The recent apology by Pope John Paul II for many of the past sins of the Roman Catholic Church was praised by at least one local Catholic leader, but the act received a mixed response from other members of the Ames community.

John Donaghy, campus minister at St. Thomas Aquinas Church and Catholic Student Center, 2210 Lincoln Way, said the pope did not ask forgiveness for any particular sins in his March 12 prayer, though he has done so in the past.

“This was a general one, but there were a couple cases in the past where he has specifically mentioned certain cases,” Donaghy said.

He said the pontiff has previously asked for specific forgiveness for the church’s failure to respond to the Holocaust and for the church’s excommunication of Galileo.

The prayer of forgiveness was just one piece of a broader effort by the pope to ask God to forgive the church for many past transgressions, Donaghy said.

“This is not a one-time thing, but it’s something the pope has been doing for probably 15, 20 years,” he said. “It’s part of a longer concern of the pope to recognize that the members of the Catholic Church — high and low — have done wrong to others, sometimes in egregious ways, and the pope is asking forgiveness in the name of the whole church.”

The prayer focused on the church’s past mistreatment of Jews, women and minorities.

“I think it’s very important that the Catholic Church recognize that we have not been faithful to what we’re called to be, and if we really are to live as the body of Christ, we have to realize we have not lived up to what Christ demands of us,” Donaghy said. “I think recognition of sins is the starting point for God’s will to be done.”

Adam Oris, president of Hillel, an ISU Jewish student organization, said he is pleased with John Paul’s request for forgiveness.

“I think it’s a very noble thing to do,” said Oris, senior in management and psychology. “I think it’s a huge step in religious relations — with Catholics and Jews in particular.”

However, Oris said the plea for forgiveness should be just one stage of the reconciliation process of admitting that mistakes were made by the church during the Holocaust.

“[The Holocaust] still needs to be addressed, and addressed more than it already has been, whether it’s in Israel or in the Vatican,” he said. “I think it would have a much greater effect on the average Jewish citizen if he did it in Israel, but as long as he’s doing it, that’s all that matters.”

Randy Jackson, men’s outreach coordinator at Sloss Women’s Center, said he thought the papal apology should have been more specific.

“I don’t think the pope went far enough. I think it was a good first step, but he needed to name names; he needed to name the acts the church is asking for forgiveness for,” said Jackson, undeclared graduate student.

Jackson said he thought John Paul should have specified the Holocaust, especially the acts of Pope Pius XII.

“There has been a history of anti-Semitism in the Catholic Church,” Jackson said. “There is a doctrine in the Catholic Church that says the pope is infallible, but I think when they’re apologizing, they need to get off that because the pope is just a man, and they all have shortcomings, and Pius XII definitely had shortcomings when it came to the Holocaust.”

Jackson also said he thought John Paul should have mentioned sins committed against women by the church.

“I think he should’ve been very specific. He dealt with generalities,” Jackson said. “When you’re apologizing, people need to know what you’re apologizing for.”