Pope promises action on Catholic child abuse
The pope today told of his deep shame at the sexual abuse scandal in the Catholic Church and promised to work to keep paedophiles out of the priesthood.
Addressing the toughest issue facing the American church as he began his first papal trip to the United States he said: “It is a great suffering for the church in the United States and for the church in general and for me personally that this could happen.
“It is difficult for me to understand how it was possible that priests betray in this way their mission ... to these children.”
“I am deeply ashamed and we will do what is possible so this cannot happen again in the future,” the pope said on board the plane taking him to Washington.
“We will absolutely exclude paedophiles from the sacred ministry. It is more important to have good priests than many priests. We will do everything possible to heal this wound.”
The pope’s pilgrimage is the first trip by a pontiff to the United States since the scandal involving priests sexually abusing young people rocked US dioceses.
The church has paid out more than two billion dollars in abuse costs since 1950, the majority of it since 2002.
Six US dioceses have declared bankruptcy in recent years because of the financial toll of the scandal.
Abuse victim watchdogs said the pope’s comments did not go far enough.
Peter Isely, a board member of the Survivors Network of those Abused by Priests, said there should be penalties for church leaders who fail to discipline predatory priests.
“It’s easy and tempting to continually focus on the paedophile priests themselves. It’s harder but crucial to focus on the broader problem - complicity in the rest of the church hierarchy.”
The pope described his visit as a journey to meet a “great people and a great church.” He spoke about the American model of religious values within a system of separation of church and state.
From a presidential welcome, to two Masses at baseball stadiums, to a stop for prayer at ground zero in New York, he will get a heavy dose of the American experience.
The pope said he will discuss immigration with President George Bush, including the difficulties of families who are separated by immigration.
The pope will give a speech at the United Nations during the second, New York leg of his six-day trip.
After making little headway in his efforts to rekindle the faith in his native Europe, the German-born pope will be visiting a country where many of the 65 million Catholics are eager to hear what he says.
