Pope vows to help heal wounds of sex abuse scandal

Embarking on his first voyage to the United States as pontiff, Pope Benedict XVI said that the priesthood was “absolutely incompatible” with the sexual abuse of children and pledged to help heal the wounds that have scarred the Roman Catholic church.

En route for the first visit by a pope since the scandal broke several years ago, Benedict also signaled to reporters that he wanted to discuss immigration issues during his visit this week. The papal party is scheduled to arrive in Washington, D.C., this afternoon where he will be greeted by President Bush at Andrews Air Force Base.

“We are deeply ashamed,” the pope said on the airplane of the abuse scandal. “We will do what is possible so this cannot happen again in the future.

“We will do all that is possible to heal this wound,” the pope said, adding that he “who is guilty of being a pedophile cannot be a priest. We will absolutely exclude pedophiles from the sacred ministry.”

The string of child abuse scandals has cost the Roman Catholic Church hundreds of millions of dollars, forced the sale of property and has complicated relations between parishioners and their clergy.

“To repair the damage,” Benedict said, “priests and bishops have to be vigilant, use the judicial system, where possible, and better screen applicants to the priesthood.

“It is more important to have good priests than many priests,” the pope said.

A Latin American reporter asked the pope about the U.S. church, which is becoming increasingly bilingual and bicultural as the percentage of Latino members increases.

Benedict, who will visit Washington and New York in the trip that ends Sunday, said he will raise immigration issues during his stay. He said he was especially concerned by what he called the grave problem of families that are separated by immigration policies and by border violence.

The German-born Benedict will mark the third anniversary of his election as pope during the trip. He succeeded the popular John Paul II.

The sexual abuse scandal remains a thorny issue. The Roman Catholic Church in the United States has paid more than $2 billion in settlements and legal judgments from the abuse scandal and top prelates have apologized for what Los Angeles Cardinal Roger M. Mahony called the terrible sins and crimes committed by the clergy.

The record Los Angeles settlement, $660 million, or about $1.3 million per person, far exceeds the $157-million settlement in Boston, where revelations touched off the national scandal. Orange County has agreed to pay about $100 million to 90 claimants.

But the settlements, which have forced financial problems in many dioceses, have not ended the issue. Relations between some parishioners and clergy remain uneven and demonstrations have continued against what protesters say is the church’s slowness in dealing with the issue.

Benedict told reporters traveling with him on the plane that he recognized the problem.

“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.

After meeting Bush at Andrews Air Force Base, the pope will then go to the Apostolic Nunciature in Washington. He is scheduled to meet with Catholic leaders Wednesday and participate in a Mass in Nationals Park on Thursday.

During his stay, Benedict will address the United Nations and visit Ground Zero in Manhattan, where the World Trade Center was destroyed in a terrorist attack that claimed almost 3,000 lives in 2001. He will celebrate a Mass in Yankee Stadium in the Bronx.

tracy.wilkinson@latimes.com

michael.muskal@latimes.com