POPE ADDRESSES SEX ABUSE SCANDAL AS HE STARTS VISIT TO BRITAIN
Baku, September 16 (AZERTAC). Pope Benedict XVI said Thursday the Roman Catholic Church has not been vigilant enough or fast enough in responding to the problem of sexual abuse by priests.
"These revelations were for me a shock and a great sadness. It is difficult to understand how this perversion of the priestly ministry was possible," he told reporters aboard his plane to Scotland, according to the Catholic News Service (CNS), which was with him on the plane.
Asked about the sexual abuse, the pope said it was inexplicable to him how a priest who has promised at his ordination to act in the person of Christ, as a good shepherd, could "fall into this perversion," CNS reported.
"It is a great sadness. It is a sadness, also, that the authority of the church was not vigilant enough, was not sufficiently fast and decisive in taking the necessary measures," he said.
The pope made the comments as he arrived for a historic four-day state visit to Britain, where the issue of abuse, and the Vatican`s perceived lack of response to it, has created anger.
Britain`s Queen Elizabeth II shook hands with the pope as he arrived Thursday at her Scottish residence near Edinburgh, the Palace of Holyroodhouse, before they sat down for a private meeting. A military marching band played the national anthem God Save the Queen, for which the pope removed his white cap.
Earlier, as the pope arrived at the Edinburgh airport in an Alitalia plane, a Union Jack and Vatican City flag were flown out of the cockpit windows.
Prince Philip, the queen`s husband, greeted the pope as he stepped off the plane, according to royal protocol for a state visit. It was a sunny but windy day in Edinburgh, and as the pope walked off the tarmac, his cape briefly blew in his face and he had to brush it away.
The pope used relatively strong language in a speech delivered after the meeting with the queen, reflecting on the "sobering lessons of the atheist extremism" of the 20th century.
He reminded the media of its "greater responsibility than most" to promote peace and the spread of human rights, and he reminded the country of its "deep Christian roots" that he said are still present in "every layer" of British life.
"Today, the United Kingdom strives to be a modern and multicultural society," the pope said. "In this challenging enterprise, may it always maintain its respect for those traditional values and cultural expressions that more aggressive forms of secularism no longer value or even tolerate. Let it not obscure the Christian foundation that underpins its freedoms."
Thousands of people, including bagpipe players and marching bands, stood along Edinburgh`s famous Princes Street afterward to watch the pope ride by in his popemobile.
A huge security operation was being mounted to protect the pope during the trip -- the first papal state visit to Britain -- bumping estimated costs beyond 20 million pounds ($31 million), with more than half coming from the British government.
Thousands were expected to greet Benedict at public Masses in Glasgow, Birmingham, and London and on the sidelines of meetings with political leaders, royalty and bridge-building events with Anglican Church officials.
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