Pope's Onboard Press Conference

[SuscipeMeDomine]

The New York Times reports on the pope’s remarks as he traveled to the US.

“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. “As I read the histories of those victims, it is difficult for me to understand how it was possible that priests betrayed in this way. Their mission was to give healing, to give the love of God to these children. We are deeply ashamed and we will do what is possible that this cannot happen in the future.”

Apparently drawing a distinction between priests with homosexual tendencies and those inclined to molest children, the pontiff said: “I would not speak at this moment about homosexuality, but pedophilia, which is another thing. And we would absolutely exclude pedophiles from the sacred ministry.”

The article talks about how the advocates for victims want more from the pope, including dismissal of those who allowed the abuse to occur.

The pope also discussed immigration:

“I have seen the breadth of this problem above all the grave problem of the separation of families,” Benedict said. “This really is dangerous for the fabric social, moral, human of these countries.” He said it was important to think about both long-term and short-term solutions. “The fundamental solution is that there would be no need to emigrate because there would be sufficient jobs,” he said.