US Papal Visit The World Reacts, by Jillian York, Global Voices, April 22, 2008

U.S. Papal Visit: The World Reacts

By Jillian York
Global Voices
April 22, 2008

http://www.globalvoicesonline.org/2008/04/22/us-papal-visit-the-world-reacts/

As Pope Benedict XVI makes his first papal visit to the United States, the media and blogosphere are in a frenzy - primarily due to the sexual abuse scandal that shook the foundation of the American Catholic church six years ago. The Pope addressed the issue in Washington D.C. on Thursday, speaking with victims of sexual abuses, which pleased some bloggers but for others was too little too late.

Darryl Wolk, a Canadian blogger, is of the former category, stating:

As a Catholic, I am glad that Pope Benedict XVI addressed this issue head on. It will take more than words and apologies, to heal the scars caused by the actions of some priests towards the victims. I think today was a step in the right direction for my church.

Leon J. Suseran of the Guyana Chronicle Blog, wishes he could have been there:

IF there was a time that I wished I was in the United States, then it would be right now, when the leader of the world's 1.2 Billion Roman Catholics Pope Benedict XVI makes his first apostolic journey to that nation. His visit comes at a time that the holy Roman Catholic Church is under attack from all corners, including the recent sex-abuse scandals that have rocked the Church, but not the faith of tens of millions worldwide, who have continued under these dark times to practice the faith that was handed down by the apostles.

From Trinidad and Tobago, Jeremy Taylor, on the other hand, is frustrated by the Pope's inaction:

It's not enough for the Pope to be "ashamed" of his American paedophile priests, as he claimed to be today on his way to the US. He also has to do something about them. Actually, a lot more than just "something."

Talk Turkey wonders what effect the papal visit will have on the U.S. elections:

I wonder if the Pope will meet with Obama, Hillary, and McCain as well. After all, this is an election year. And there are an estimated 70 million Catholics in the U.S., some of whom I would suspect have experienced divorce, practiced sex before marriage, had an abortion, and were (or know someone who have been) abused as a child by the clergy.

And Dave Weinberg of Jewneric focuses on the positives of the Pope's visit to a synagogue, which sets an historical precedent:

The Pope going to an American shul is, however, a very big deal and really shows the positive progress our two communities have made. It is even more appropriate that the Pope visit a synagogue on the eve of Passover, being that the Last Supper was a Seder.