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 ABOARD THE PAPAL PLANE (AP) - Traveling on his first papal journey to the United States, Pope Benedict XVI confronted the clergy sex abuse scandal, saying Tuesday that he was "deeply ashamed" of the problem and vowing to keep pedophiles out of the priesthood.
Benedict had only begun his six-day journey when he addressed sex abuse, the most painful issue for the Roman Catholic Church in the U.S.
The American church has paid more than $2 billion in costs related to the scandal since 1950 — the majority of that in just the last six years.
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