Pope apologizes for clergy sex abuse in Australia

Pope Benedict XVI says he is deeply sorry for the pain and suffering caused to victims of clergy sex abuse. The pope says he wanted to acknowledge the "shame that we have all felt as result of the sexual abuse of minors by some clergy" in Australia. He says the deeds of clergy responsible for abuse were a grave betrayal of trust that had caused great pain, had damaged the Roman Catholic Church, and deserved unequivocal condemnation. The pope was speaking Saturday at a Mass attended by Australia's Roman Catholic bishops and seminarians. Support groups for victims of church abuse in Australia, whose numbers are not known but who activists say are in the thousands, have demanded the pope make a full and open apology for clergy abuse and do more to prevent future abuse.