By Mark Mueller
The Star-Ledger
April 16, 2008
http://www.nj.com/news/ledger/topstories/index.ssf/2008/04/pope_begins_us_trip_by_reflect.html
ANDREWS AIR FORCE BASE, Md. -- Greeted by the president and hundreds of cheering supporters, Pope Benedict XVI arrived on American soil Tuesday for a six-day faith-building mission, a journey that began hours earlier with a somber pronouncement of regret over the clergy sex abuse scandal.
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| Pope Benedict XVI is escorted by President Bush while arriving Tuesday at Andrews Air Force Base in Camp Springs, Md. Photo by Win McNamee |
Speaking to reporters during the trans-Atlantic flight aboard his "'Shepherd One" plane, the pope said he was "deeply ashamed" by the crisis and vowed to rid the priesthood of pedophiles.
"As I read the histories of these victims, it is difficult for me to understand how it is possible that priests betrayed in this way," Benedict said. "Their mission is to give healing, to give the love of God to these children. We are deeply ashamed, and we will do everything possible that this cannot happen in the future."
The pope added that the sexual abuse of thousands of children over the decades had caused a "great suffering" to the church and to him personally.
The comments, his most expansive and emotionally charged on the crisis to date, contrasted in tone to the warm welcome he received on the runway at Andrews Air Force Base in suburban Washington Tuesday afternoon.
The pope's plane touched down at 3:52 p.m. Clad in bright white vestments, Benedict stepped briskly off the Alitalia jetliner and was met on the red carpet by President Bush, first lady Laura Bush and their daughter Jenna.
It was the first time Bush personally welcomed a dignitary at Andrews.
The spiritual leader of 67 million American Catholics greeted the president with a two-handed clasp. Moments later, the pope, his white hair whipped by the wind, smiled to an excited crowd of about 800 onlookers.
Benedict's short, highly choreographed arrival set the stage for a trip that includes a Mass at Washington's new ballpark, Nationals Park, an address to the United Nations and prayers at Ground Zero in Lower Manhattan. The pope, who turns 81 today, also will celebrate Mass at Yankee Stadium Sunday morning.
The visit is Benedict's first to the United States since becoming pope in April 2005.
Even before he touched down, Benedict addressed the clergy sex abuse crisis directly.
He said the church was working on several levels to solve the problem, including efforts to root out pedophiles studying for the priesthood and to better screen candidates for the seminary.
The pope made a distinction between pedophiles and homosexuals.
"I would not speak in this moment about homosexuality but pedophilia, which is another thing," Benedict said. "We would absolutely exclude pedophiles from the sacred ministry ... Who is guilty of pedophilia should not be priests."
He said it was "more important to have good priests than to have many priests."
"We hope that we can do and have done and will do in the future all that is possible to heal this wound," Benedict said.
A leading victims group said the pope's comments fell short.
"It's easy and tempting to continually focus on the pedophile priests themselves. It's harder but crucial to focus on the broader problem: complicity in the rest of the church hierarchy," Peter Isely, a spokesman for the Survivors Network of those Abused by Priests, said in a statement.
In an interview, John Moynihan, spokesman for Voice of the Faithful, a lay Catholic group, said he was encouraged Benedict is determined to exclude pedophiles from the priesthood, but remained disturbed that bishops who transferred known abusers from parish to parish remain in office.
He also said a "culture of secrecy" still exists.
"One can easily imagine that if parents were involved in these decisions, they wouldn't have tolerated these transfers of abusive priests," Moynihan said.
Benedict was immersed in the clergy scandal before he became pope. In December 2002, as the Vatican's top cardinal, he complained media coverage of the crisis was orchestrated to hurt the church. He also was quoted saying fewer than 1 percent of priests were abusers.
Since the extent of the problem came into public view in 2002, some 4,000 U.S. priests have been accused of sexual abuse. The Catholic church has paid out more than $2 billion in legal settlements, bankrupting six dioceses.
A study sponsored by the U.S. Conference of Catholic Bishops later showed at least 4 percent of Catholic priests between 1950 and 2002 had been credibly accused of molesting minors.
The pope meets today with Bush at the White House. The two differ on several topics, such as the war in Iraq and capital punishment, but share an opposition to gay marriage, abortion and stem cell research.
"I really don't think that the president is planning to spend a lot of time talking about the issues of Iraq with the pope," White House press secretary Dana Perino said in a briefing with reporters before the pope's arrival. "But I do think that the root cause of ... terrorism and extremism is something that they will talk about."
Benedict also told reporters aboard Shepherd One he would talk to Bush about immigration.
"I have seen the breadth of this problem -- above all, the grave problem of the separation of families. This is really dangerous for the fabric -- social, moral, human -- for these countries," he said.
"The fundamental solution is there would be no need to immigrate because there would be sufficient jobs ... Everyone must work toward this objective and for social development in these countries ... .
"On this point I will also speak with the president, because, above all, the United States must help countries to develop themselves in the interest of everyone, not only of these countries, of the world and even of the United States."
Benedict, who has spoken fondly of the United States, also addressed the nation's history of separating church and state.
Asked if the United States could serve as a religious model for Europe and other areas of the world, the pope replied: "Certainly Europe can't simply copy the United States. We have our own history. We all have to learn from each other."
Contact: mmueller@starledger.com
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