4A NEWS
THE UNIVERSITY DAILY KANSAN WEDNESDAY, APRIL 16, 2008
RELIGION
ASSOCIATED PRESS
Pope Benedict XVI arrives at Andrews Air Force Base, Md., Tuesday, on his first visit to the U.S. as Pope. The Pope addressed the clergy abuse scandal on the flight from Rome to the U.S.
Pope makes first trip to U.S.
ASSOCIATED PRESS
ANDREWS AIR FORCE BASE, Md. — Pope Benedict XVI arrived Tuesday in the United States to a presidential handshake and enthusiastic cheering, a warm welcome that followed the pontiff's candid admission hours earlier that he is "deeply ashamed" of the clergy sex abuse scandal that has rocked the American church.
On his first papal trip to the U.S., Benedict gave hundreds of spectators a two-handed wave as he stepped off a special Alitalia airliner that brought him from Rome. Students from a local Catholic school screamed ecstatically when the saw the pontiff, who shook hands with President Bush, first lady Laura Bush and their daughter, Jenna on the tarmac.
The pope and the president left in a motorcade a few minutes later.
On the flight to the United States from Rome, Benedict addressed the most painful issue for the Roman Catholic Church in America — clergy sex abuse. The U.S. church has paid out $2 billion in abuse costs since 1950, most of that in just the last six years.
"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 on the flight from Rome to Washington, speaking in English as he responded to questions submitted by reporters ahead of time.
Benedict pledged that pedophiles
would not be priests in the Catholic Church.
the Survivors Network of those Abused by Priests. "It's harder but crucial to focus on the broader problem — complicity in the rest of the church hierarchy."
"We will absolutely exclude pedophiles from the sacred ministry," Benedict said. "It is more important to have good priests than many priests. We will do everything possible to heal this wound."
"I am deeply ashamed, and we will do what is possible so this cannot happen again in the future."
Benedict's pilgrimage is the first trip by a pontiff to the United States since the case of a serial molester in Boston triggered a crisis that spread throughout the United States and beyond in 2002. Hundreds of new accusations — many dating back decades — have surfaced each year since. There were 691 new accusations in 2007 alone, according to an annual report from the U.S. Conference of Catholic Bishops.
The pope's promise failed to mollify advocates for abuse victims, however. They said the problem is not just molester priests, but bishops and other church authorities who have let errant clergymen continue to serve even after repeated allegations.
As head of the Vatican agency that enforces adherence to Catholic doctrine, then-Cardinal Joseph Ratzinger was heavily involved in gaining Vatican approval for the reforms U.S. bishops proposed for the American church. The bishops have since released several reports analyzing the scandal and have pledged that all credibly accused priests will be pulled from public ministry.
"It's easy and tempting to continually focus on the pedophile priests themselves," said Peter Isely, a board member of
Pedophilia is "absolutely incompatible" with the priesthood," Benedict said.
Benedict described his pilgrimage as a journey to meet a "great people and a great church." He spoke about the American model of religious values within a system of separation of church and state.
President Bush made the unusual gesture of greeting Benedict at Andrews Air Force Base — the first time he has welcomed a foreign leader there.
The pope said he will discuss immigration with Bush, including the difficulties of families who are separated by immigration.
POPE BENEDICT XVI
While the pope and Bush differ on such major issues on the Iraq war, capital punishment and the U.S. embargo against Cuba, they do find common ground in opposing abortion, gay marriage and embryonic stem cell research.
White House press secretary Dana Perino, asked about the pope's comments regarding the clergy sex abuse scandal, said she
wouldn't rule out that the topic would come up in conversation between the pope and the president.
But she added that "I don't think it's necessarily on the president's
top priorities" for his agenda in talking with the pope.
Perino said the two leaders would likely discuss human rights, religious tolerance and the fight against violent extremism.
As for the war in Iraq, Perino said, "Obviously, there were differences years back." She downplayed those, emphasizing instead a strong bond between Bush and the pope.
Benedict "will hear from the president that America and the world need to hear his message, that God is love, that human life is sacred, that we all must be guided by common moral law, and that we have responsibilities to care for our brothers and sisters in need, at home and across the world," Perino said.
CRIME
Prostitution service caters to politicians Federal jury convicts woman on 3 counts
ASSOCIATED PRESS
WASHINGTON - A federal jury convicted a woman Tuesday of running a prostitution service that catered to members of Washington's political elite.
Palfrey caused a sensation last year when she announced that to raise money for her defense, she
Deborah Jeane Palfrey, 52, sighed as the verdict was read. She had repeatedly denied the escort service engaged in, prostitution, saying that if any of the women engaged in sex acts for money, they did so without her knowledge.
She (Palfrey) was convicted on all counts she faced; Money launder ing, using the mail for illegal purposes, and racketeering.
intended to sell her phone records to any news outlet willing to pay. Palfreya said her defunct business, Pamela Martin & Associates, was "a legal, high-end erotic fantasy
service" that serviced elite clients.
She was convicted on all counts she faced: Money laundering, using the mail for illegal purposes and racketeering.
Three of Palfrey's clients testified during the weeklong trial in U.S. District Court for the District of Columbia, explaining how they found the service, how often they called, what they were hoping for and whether they got it during their visits.
But the trial concluded without revealing many new details about the service or its clients. Sen. David Vitter, R-La., was among possible witnesses, but did not take the stand.
"When a man agrees to pay $250 for 90 minutes with a woman, what do most men expect in that time?" prosecutor Daniel Butler said during closing arguments Monday. "In that context, it's pretty clear. Most men want sex."
Vitter has acknowledged being involved with Palfrey's escort service. But after issuing brief statements apologizing for "a very serious sin," he has avoided follow-up questions.
Harlan Ullman, a military strategist who created the concept of "shock and awe" that the United
to open hostilities against a Iraq, also did not testify. Palfrey says Ullman was a regular client; Ullman has declined to discuss what he has called "outrageous allegations."
"When a man agrees to pay $250 for 90 minutes with a woman, what do most men expect in that time?"
DANIEL BUTLER Federal prosecutor
Randall L. Tobias, who resigned as a deputy secretary of state after acknowledging to ABC News that he used Palrefry's service for massages, also did not testify.
Defense attorney Preston Burton argued that what went on during appointments was between the client and the escort. He compared Palfrey to a taxi dispatcher, who shouldn't be penalized for "the route the cab driver took."
Palfrey, who faces a maximum of 55 years in prison, will remain free pending her sentencing on July 24.
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