【标准VOA】2008-04-18
Pope Benedict Begins US Visit (1/2)
Pope Benedict arrived at Andrews Air Force base outside Washington having directly addressed one of the toughest issues facing him during his first papal visit to the United States.
On the flight from Rome, Benedict said the scandal involving sexual abuse of children by Catholic priests has caused great suffering for the church in America and for him personally.
The pope says he is deeply ashamed by the scandal and that pedophiles will be banned from ministry.
The church has paid at least $2 billion to victims of abuse and hundreds of priests have been removed.
Monsignor Kevin Irwin, the dean of the School of Theology at Catholic University, says it will take a long time for wounds to heal.
"No one can solve that crisis. It is going to be a lot of time and a lot of wounds and a lot of prayer and a lot of mortification. In once sense this crisis has brought the church back to its origins. We have to be a humble, pilgrim church."
President and Mrs. Bush along with their daughter Jenna made the unusual gesture of greeting Pope Benedict at the Air Force base, the first time the president has welcomed a foreign leader there.
