Pope Expresses ‘Sorrow’ About Abuse, Meets Victims

Pope Expresses ‘Sorrow’ About Abuse, Meets Victims Pope Benedict XVI expressed “deep sorrow” for the “unspeakable crimes” of child abuse within the Catholic Church at however a London Mass and then met and prayed with a group of victims.

Celebrating Mass in Westminster Cathedral, the largest Catholic Church in England, the pope today said he was concerned about “the immense suffering” caused by sexual abuse, especially by ministers, and spoke of “the shame and humiliation” caused by “these sins.”

At a meeting with a group of clergy sex-abuse victims later, the pope said the Church will “bring to justice” those responsible for these “egregious crimes,” according to an e- mailed statement from the Holy See.

Almost five centuries after King Henry VIII split from Rome, the pope’s state visit to the U.K. has been met by protests against the child-abuse. His opposition to abortion, birth control and same-sex unions in a country where they are legal has also fostered animosity among however critics who say he should never have come.