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By Nicole Winfield, Associated Press Writer 

Edinburgh, Scotland (AP) - Pope Benedict XVI braved a chilly
atmosphere Thursday in mostly secular Britain to issue his
strongest comments yet on the sex abuse crisis, admitting that the
Catholic Church had not acted decisively or quickly enough to
remove priests who molested children.


      Speaking to reporters traveling with him from Rome, Benedict
said the church's top priority now was to help abuse victims heal -
ye the comments failed to satisfy victims' groups.


      Benedict's historic four-day visit has been overshadowed by
disgust over the abuse scandal and indifference in Britain, where
Catholics are a minority at 10 percent and endured centuries of
bloody persecution and discrimination until the early 1800s.


      The trip is the first state visit by a pope to the U.K., and his
meeting with Queen Elizabeth II was symbolically significant
because of the historic divide between the officially Protestant
nation and the Catholic Church.


      Yet only 65,000 of the faithful had tickets to an open air Mass
at Bellahouston Park in Glasgow, compared to the 100,000 previously
expected. The British media has been particularly hostile to the
pope's visit, noting its 12-million-pound ($18.7 million) security
cost to taxpayers at a time of austerity measures and job losses.


      Many in Britain are also strongly opposed to Benedict's hard
line against homosexuality, abortion and using condoms to prevent
the spread of AIDS. Protests are planned and "Pope Nope" T-shirts
have been spotted around London.


      Still, a crowd of 125,000 in Edinburgh welcomed him warmly as
his Popemobile paraded through the streets, with cheers on Princes
Street heard from a mile away and well-wishers waving the Holy
See's yellow-and-white flag.


      "I've brought my wee girl Laura to see the pope," said James
Hegarty, a 42-year-old unemployed Edinburgh resident. "She's only
4, but it's a once in a lifetime chance to see him."


      Later Thursday, tens of thousands waved flags and applauded as
Benedict arrived in his Popemobile for a late afternoon Mass in
Bellahouston Park in Glasgow. At one point, he rolled down the
vehicle's window to kiss a baby dressed all in pink.


      Scottish singing sensation Susan Boyle warmed up the crowd as
she prepared to fulfill a dream and sing before the pope.


      The pope's first meeting of the day was with Queen Elizabeth II,
both the head of state and head of the Church of England, at The
Palace of Holyroodhouse in Edinburgh.


      The queen who wore a blue-gray knee-length coat and matching hat
and gloves, as tartan-wearing bagpipers marched and thousands of
people watched under blustery, cloud-streaked blue skies. The
pontiff himself donned a green tartan scarf as he rode through
Edinburgh.


      The queen told Benedict that his visit reminded all Britons of
their common Christian heritage and said she hoped relations
between the Anglican Church and the Catholic Church would be
deepened as a result.


      She also praised the Catholic Church's "special contribution"
to helping the poorest and most vulnerable people around the world.


      "We know from experience that through committed dialogue, old
suspicions can be transcended and a greater mutual trust
encouraged," she said. "We hold that freedom to worship is at the
core of our tolerant and democratic society."


      The pope, too, recalled the shared Christian heritage of
Catholics and Anglicans and said he wanted to extend a "hand of
friendship" to the British people during his trip.


      He said the queen's forefathers' "respect for truth and
justice, for mercy and charity come to you from a faith that
remains a mighty force for good in your kingdom."


      The German-born Benedict's visit also came as the U.K marks the
70th anniversary of the Battle of Britain. Benedict recalled how
Britain fought the "Nazi tyranny" during World War II, "that
wished to eradicate God from society and denied our common humanity
to many, especially the Jews, who were thought unfit to live."


      Later, he enjoyed a very Scottish treat: a lunch of haggis -
sheep heart, liver and lungs simmered in sheep stomach - at the
home of Scottish Cardinal Keith O'Brien.


      The queen is head of the Church of England, which split
acrimoniously from Rome in the 16th century, a division followed by
centuries in which Catholics were fined, discriminated against and
killed for their faith in Britain. The visit also coincides with
the 450th anniversary of the Reformation in Scotland.


      The last papal visit to Britain was by John Paul II in 1982.
Benedict's trip is a state visit because he was invited by the
monarch.


      About 80 people protested the pope's visit, led by a Northern
Ireland Protestant leader, the Rev. Ian Paisley, at the Magdalen
Chapel where John Knox, the leader of the Scottish Reformation,
preached.


      "This visit should never had happened. We stand here against
these abusers. This is a waste of taxpayers' money," Paisley said.


      Benedict acknowledged the opposition in his airborne comments to
reporters, saying Britain had a "great history of
anti-Catholicism. But it is also a country with a great history of
tolerance."


      Asked about polls that suggest many Catholics had lost trust in
the church as a result of the sex abuse scandals, Benedict said he
was shocked and saddened about the scope of the abuse, in part
because priests take vows to be Christ's voice upon ordination.


      "It's difficult to understand how a man who has said this could
then fall into this perversion. It's a great sadness," Benedict
said in Italian. "It's also sad that the authority of the church
wasn't sufficiently vigilant, and not sufficiently quick or
decisive to take necessary measures" to stop it.


      He said victims were the church's top priority as it tries to
help them heal spiritually and psychologically.


      "How can we repair, what can we do to help these people
overcome this trauma, find their lives again and find again the
trust in the message of Christ?" Benedict said.


      He insisted that abusive priests must never again be allowed
access to young children, saying they suffer from an illness that
"goodwill" cannot cure. In addition, he said, candidates for the
priesthood must be better screened.


      The Vatican has been reeling for months as thousands of victims
around the globe have spoken out about priests who molested
children, bishops who covered up for them and Vatican officials who
turned a blind eye to the problem for decades. In the latest
admission, hundreds of victims have finally come forth in Belgium
with tales of horrific abuse that was linked to at least 13
suicides.


      Previously, Benedict has admitted that the scandal was borne of
"sins within the church" but he had never acknowledged in such
detail to the church's failures to act. Advocates for victims have
long insisted he take more personal responsibility for the scandal,
given that he was in charge of the Vatican office that handled sex
abuse cases and was archbishop of Munich when a pedophile priest
was assigned pastoral work while undergoing therapy for having
abused young boys.


      Benedict didn't take individual personal responsibility
Thursday, saying only that the "authority of the church" had
failed.


      The main U.S. victim's group dismissed Benedict's comments as
disingenuous, noting that the only real action the Vatican has
taken has been to tell bishops to report abuse to police if local
laws require them to do so.


      "Bishops across the world continue to deliberately choose
secrecy and deception over safety and honesty in child sex cases,"
said Joelle Casteix of the Survivors Network of those Abused by
Priests.


      Vatican officials haven't confirmed that Benedict will meet with
abuse victims while in Britain, but U.K. organizers say
arrangements are being made.


      A beatification event will follow on Sunday for Cardinal John
Newman in Birmingham, which will see the 19th-century English
philosopher take a step on his way to sainthood.


      The bookish Benedict lacks the charisma of his predecessor John
Paul II, who pulled in a crowd of 250,000 for Mass at the same
Glasgow park.


      The Humanist Society of Scotland placed billboards between
Edinburgh and Glasgow that read: "Two million Scots are good
without God." It also took exception to the pope's comment
Thursday about the Nazis.


      "The notion that it was the atheism of Nazis that led to their
extremist and hateful views or that somehow fuels intolerance in
Britain today is a terrible libel against those who do not believe
in God," the group said.


      The Rev. Federico Lombardi, the Vatican spokesman, responded
that Benedict - who was forced to become part of the Hitler Youth -
choses his words wisely. "You can agree or not, but I think the
pope knows very well what the Nazi ideology was," Lombardi said.


      Associated Press reporter Ben McConville in Edinburgh and Victor
L. Simpson and Danica Kirka in London contributed to this report.
      

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