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	Pope Tells of Shame over Priest Abuse The Australian April 17, 2008 http://www.theaustralian.news.com.au/story/0,25197,23550814-2703,00.html WASHINGTON: The Pope said yesterday he was "deeply ashamed" over sexual abuse by Catholic priests in the US and vowed to keep pedophiles out of the church. Answering questions on board his flight from Rome to Washington, the Pope directly addressed one of the toughest issues facing him on his US visit: the wave of sex scandals that first arose in 2002 and has since forced the country's Roman Catholic church to pay more than $2billion in abuse settlements. "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," he said. "It's difficult for me to understand how it was possible that priests betrayed in this way their mission to give healing, to give the love of God to these children. I am deeply ashamed and we will do what is possible so this cannot happen again in the future." He promised the church would do everything possible to screen candidates for the priesthood "so that only really sound persons can be admitted". "We will absolutely exclude pedophiles from the sacred ministry," the Pope said. "It is more important to have good priests than many priests. We will do everything possible to heal this wound." The visit was the first by a pontiff to the US since the scandal erupted. Six US dioceses have declared bankruptcy in recent years because of its financial toll. In February 2004, US bishops issued a report on abuse of children by priests stretching over 52 years from 1950. It found that 10,667 people had accused priests of child sexual abuse in that time. In January 2002, The Boston Globe reported that 130 people had been abused by John Geoghan, a former priest, over three decades, yet he had been repeatedly reassigned rather than removed from contact with young boys. Groups that track abuse cases and advocate for victims said the Pope's comments don't do enough to address the deeper problem - that the church hierarchy, including bishops, hid or reassigned priests who had been accused of abuse. "He could start by disciplining some of the many Catholic bishops responsible for this," said Terence McKiernan, president of BishopAccountability.org, an online archive that has collected information on 3000 clergy accused of sexual abuse. One continuing issue for Catholics is that there is no way to track every clergy member who has been accused of abuse or whether they were disciplined by the Vatican. "He has names that no one else has. How many cases are there?" Mr McKiernan said. A poll published yesterday showed that almost three-quarters of American Catholics approve of Benedict XVI as Pope but most find the church out of touch with their views and are critical of the way the scandal has been handled. Half of those surveyed by the Washington Post-ABC poll wanted the Pope to emphasise traditional church teachings and 45 per cent preferred that his policies "reflect the attitudes and lifestyles of modern Catholics". The Pope was expected to raise sensitive issues such as the Iraq war and Hispanic immigration when he met President George W.Bush overnight. The US must do "everything possible to fight ... all forms of violence so that immigrants may lead dignified lives," the Pope said in response to a reporter's question about whether he would address the issue of Latin American immigrants with Mr Bush. Hispanics make up nearly 40per cent of the 70 million Catholics in the US and are increasingly targeted by a crackdown on illegal immigrants. The Pope was also expected to discuss with Mr Bush the US involvement in Iraq, where more than 4000 US soldiers have died in a war launched by the US despite firm opposition from the Vatican.
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