Pope Benedict XVI 'Deeply Ashamed' of U.S. Clergy Sex Abuse Scandal

ABOARD THE PAPAL PLANE — Pope Benedict XVI said Tuesday he was "deeply ashamed" of the clergy sexual abuse scandal that stained the U.S. Catholic Church and pledged to work to make sure pedophiles do not become priests.

Benedict was answering questions submitted in advance by reporters aboard a special Alitalia airliner as he was flying from Rome to Washington to begin his first papal pilgrimage to the United States.

"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.


The leader of the world's 1 billion Catholics pledged that pedophiles would not be priests in the Roman Catholic Church.

FOXNews.com - Pope Benedict XVI 'Deeply Ashamed' of U.S. Clergy Sex Abuse Scandal

I am a Catholic and I know that this is a major concern in the church.There are roughly 44,000 priests in the US alone,we are talking about a very large and old institution yet only a tiny percentage of these priests are molesters. Last I heard it was 3%,small but still unaceptable.This figure may be only slightly higher than the percentage in the general population.The main problem is how the church swept these molestations under the rug.I believe steps have been made to change that policy. Any institution will attempt to circle the wagons when their shepherd has been accused.

I've seen this very thing in other denominations on a smaller scale but no less egregious.Pope Benedict XVI is making strides to ensure that this activity will be dealt with swiftly.Like Peter himself,priests are indeed human and all are sinners like we are. It's how we deal with the issue that matters here.We can and should forgive but this behavior must never be "tolerated".

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"Destiny must be shaped and not left to mere chance."..Spencer Collins

That was the issue with the church that I had...

The public has made the church out to be the pedophiles themselves, which is very unjust, but they became complicit witnesses which is unfathomable...

The stigma will go on longer than Pope Benedict will be around, but he still needs to make the first steps, and I'm glad he's doing so...

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"You get the respect that you give" - cnredd