Pope vows no more paedophile priests

Pope Benedict said on Tuesday he was 8220;deeply ashamed8221; over sexual abuse that shook the Roman Catholic Church in the United States, and vowed to do everything possible to avoid a repeat scandal.

8220;We will absolutely exclude paedophiles from the sacred ministry,8221; he told reporters aboard the plane taking them to Washington for his first visit to the United States as pope.

8220;We are deeply ashamed and will do whatever is possible so that this does not happen in the future.8221;

The trip is the first by a pontiff since a wave of sex abuse scandals began in 2002, provoking lawsuits that have forced dioceses to pay more than 2 billion in settlements.