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Aboard the Papal plane: Pope Benedict XVI said on Tuesday he was "deeply ashamed" of the clergy sexual abuse scandal that stained the US Catholic Church and pledged to work to make sure paedophiles 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.
Pledge
Benedict pledged that paedophiles would not be priests in the Roman Catholic Church.
"We will absolutely exclude paedophiles from the sacred ministry," Benedict said, speaking in English. "It is more important to have good priests than many priests. We will do everything possible to heal this wound." Benedict's pilgrimage was the first trip by a pontiff to the United States since the scandal involving priests' sexually abusing young people rocked US dioceses in the early 2000s and triggered lawsuits that have cost the church hundreds of millions of dollars in settlements.
Pedophilia is "absolutely incompatible" with the priesthood," Benedict said.
The Vatican had invited reporters who were to fly aboard the plane to submit written questions.
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