Pope Makes First Trip to U.S. After Pedophile Scandal

By Pamela Mortimer

Pope Benedict XVI took the opportunity to address reporters regarding the U.S. Catholic Church as he flew from Rome to Washington on Tuesday. The Pope, who was embarking on the first papal visit since the U.S. Catholic Church scandal, answered pre-screened reporters questions while aboard a special Alitalia flight.

Regarding the scandal, Pope Benedict XVI said he was "deeply ashamed" of the clergy sexual abuse scandal that had marred the U.S. Catholic Church and pledged to ensure that pedophiles are not able to become priests.

Pedophilia is "absolutely incompatible" with the priesthood," Benedict 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," Benedict said. "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.

"We will absolutely exclude pedophiles from the sacred ministry," Benedict said, speaking in English. "It is more important to have good priests than many priests. We will do everything possible to heal this wound."

The Catholic Church scandal, alleging that a large number of children had been sexually abused by priests, came out in the early part of the decade. Reports state that the scandal resulted in lawsuits that have cost the church "hundreds of millions of dollars in settlements".

Pope Benedict described his six day journey as a pilgrimage, designed to meet a "great people and a great church".

Among the Pope’s plans, after a presidential welcome, include attending two Masses at baseball stadiums, presenting a speech at the United Nations, a prayer stop at New York’s ground zero. President Bush’s gesture to greet the Pope at Andrews Air Force Base is rare since this will be the first time the president has greeted a foreign leader at the Base.

Naturally, the Pope and Bush will have a discussion regarding many of the world’s concerns. It is clear that the men are on opposing sides of some topics, such as the war in Iraq war, the U.S. embargo against Cuba, and capital punishment. However, they do agree on opposing such hot topics as gay marriage, abortion, and stem cell research.