Controversy Marks Pope's State Visit to UK

Sept. 16, 2010— -- History is taking place in Great Britain.

Pope Benedict XVI is the first pope to make a state visit to the United Kingdom since Pope John Paul II's 1982 visit.

The Papal visit to Britain begins in Edinburgh, where Britain's 84-year-old Queen Elizabeth II will greet the 83-year-old Pope before rallying Britain's 6 million Catholics at open air masses and parades through the streets in his armored car nicknamed the Popemobile.

But this four-day, $20 million visit is already mired in controversy. The cloud of the sexual abuse scandal in the Catholic Church is hanging over events.

Belgian investigators just published a report detailing sexual abuse by priests in nearly every diocese in that country.

Some of the victims were reportedly as young as two years old.

British victims of abuse are demanding more than just an apology from the Pope. They want money for counseling and they want the Vatican to throw open its files on abuse.

Protests are also planned by those who oppose the Pope's views on condom use, homosexuality and the ordination of women.

When asked about the sex scandals, he said "the revelations were a shock to him" and "caused great sadness."

He acknowledged that "the authority of the church was not sufficiently vigilant nor quick or decisive enough to take the necessary measures."

There must be "just punishment" for the perpetrators and they must be kept away from youths, he added.

This morning, Brits are bristling at comments made by a Papal aide who likened Britain to a third world country because of the large immigrant population.

Cardinal Walter Kasper told a German magazine, "Sometimes, when you land at Heathrow, you think you have entered a third world country."

Kasper was due to accompany the Pope on this trip but has stayed in Rome, apparently because of ill health.