New York - Pope Benedict XVI renewed Saturday an appeal for ending child sex abuse among the ranks of priests in the Catholic Church in the United States, calling on church officials to cooperate with their superiors. Benedict chose the venue of St Patrick's Cathedral in the heart of New York City to once again speak about the humiliating stain on the church committed by priests, which he said had deeply hurt the Catholic Church. He made a similar appeal when he visited Washington earlier this week.
"I have already had occasion to speak of this, and of the resulting damage to the community of the faithful," he said in a sermon during an solemn mass at the cathedral attended by nearly 3,000 church clergy, who have been selected from all dioceses in the US to attend the event in New York.
"I join you in praying that this will be a time of purification for each and every particular Church and religious community, and a time for healing," he said.
"I also encourage you to cooperate with your bishops who continue to work effectively to resolve this issue. May our Lord Jesus Christ grant the Church in America a renewed sense of unity and purpose, as all - Bishops, clergy, religious and laity - move forward in hope, in love for the truth and for one another."
Thousands of people in the meantime were lining up on Fifth Avenue and streets around the cathedral while the 81-year-old pontiff celebrated the mass inside. Despite promises made by New York's Catholic Church that no tickets were needed, only those who held tickets distributed by their churches throughout New York City were able to come near the cathedral under tight security control.
Fifth Avenue, the main thoroughfare in Manhattan, was closed to traffic from 47th Street to an area north at 72nd Street, which is the official residence of the Vatican's observer to the United Nations in New York. Hundreds of police officers were seen in subways and in every bloc around St Patrick's Cathedral.
In his sermon, the pope praised St Patrick's Cathedral as perhaps more than any other church in the US as "a house of prayer for all peoples." The cathedral was built beginning in August, 1858. New York has about 5 million Catholics out of the nearly 80 million Catholics in the United States
New York's Cardinal Edward Egan offered the pope a "heartfelt congratulations" on the third anniversary of his inauguration as the successor to John Paul II and gave the pope a new silver chalice before the mass was started in full church's ceremonial traditions.
It was on April 19, 2005 that the then German Cardinal Joseph Ratzinger was elected as pope in succeeding John Paul II who had died a few weeks earlier.
Benedict is on a six-day visit to the US running through Sunday.
In addition to the brief mention of child sexual abuse, Benedict sent a "message of hope" that the world can rid itself of "self- centredness, greed, violence, and cynicism" which he said choked people's hearts.
He said the church in the US should be "the first friend of the poor, the homeless, the stranger, the sick and all who suffer."
"Act as beacons of hope, casting the light of Christ upon the world, and encouraging young people to discover the beauty of a life given completely to the Lord and his Church," he said. "I make this plea in a particular way to the many seminarians and young religious present. All of you have a special place in my heart."
Benedict was scheduled to travel by motorcade later Saturday to St Joseph Seminary in Yonkers, north of New York City, to meet with seminarians in one of the first US institutions established to train young men to priesthood. The seminary was opened in 1896 and was visited by Pope John Paul II in 1995.
About 22,000 young Catholics from around the US will greet Benedict at the seminary, including about 50 young people with disabilities.
On Sunday morning, the pope will visit Ground Zero, the site of the terrorist attacks that destroyed the twin towers of the World Trade Centre on September 11, 2001. He will celebrate mass at the Yankee Stadium in New York City Sunday afternoon before leaving for Rome later in the day.
