|
Pope apologizes for clergy sexual abuse
SYDNEY, Australia -- Pope Benedict XVI apologized Saturday for the sexual abuse of children by Australia's Roman Catholic clergy, keeping up efforts begun in the United States to publicly atone for what he called evil acts by priests.
The apology did not satisfy representatives of the victims. They said it must be backed by Vatican orders to Australian bishops to stop alleged efforts to cover up the extent of the problem and block attempts to win compensation.
"I am deeply sorry for the pain and suffering the victims have endured and I assure them as their pastor that I too share in their suffering," Benedict said in Mass in Sydney's St. Mary's Cathedral.
He said he wanted "to acknowledge the shame which we have all felt" and called for those responsible to be "brought to justice."
He called the acts "evil" and a "grave betrayal of trust" and said the abuse scandal had badly damaged the church.
The German-born pope has expressed regret before about the clergy abuse scandal that has rocked the church in recent years -- notably during a U.S. visit in April when he also met privately with a small number of victims. But the language of Saturday's apology was stronger than his comments in the United States.
Ancient wooden boat found near pyramids in Egypt to be rebuilt
CAIRO, Egypt -- Archaeologists will excavate hundreds of fragments of an ancient Egyptian wooden boat entombed in an underground chamber next to Giza's Great Pyramid and try to reassemble the craft, Egyptologists announced Saturday.
The 4,500-year-old vessel is the sister ship of a similar boat removed in pieces from another pit in 1954 and painstakingly reconstructed. Experts believe the boats were meant to ferry the pharaoh who built the Great Pyramid in the afterlife.
Starting Saturday, tourists were allowed to view images of the inside of the second boat pit from a camera inserted through the hole in the chamber's limestone ceiling. The video image, transmitted onto a small TV monitor at the site, showed layers of crisscrossing beams and planks on the floor of the dark pit.
"You can smell the past," said Zahi Hawass, director of Egypt's Supreme Council of Antiquities.
Experts will begin removing around 600 pieces of timber in November, said professor Sakuji Yoshimura of Japan's Waseda University, who is helping lead the restoration effort with the antiquities council.
Formal celebration held for Mandela
QUNU, South Africa -- Songs, laughter, teasing and tender words marked Nelson Mandela's 90th birthday celebration Saturday as presidents, village elders and African royalty joined him for a festive luncheon on his rural homestead.
The Nobel Peace Prize winner celebrated privately with his family in this rural southeastern village Friday, the day he turned 90. Saturday was a grand occasion, held in a tent outside his homestead in Qunu, 600 miles south of Johannesburg, where as a boy he herded cattle in the hills.
The anti-apartheid icon walked into the tent with his successor to the South African presidency, Thabo Mbeki, and African National Congress leader Jacob Zuma, stopping to personally greet some of the 500 guests as he made his way to the head table.
The guests, many dressed in traditional beaded cloths, animals skins and feather headdresses, stood and cheered while a Xhosa choir sang: "Here is our hope!"
Wearing, an intricately patterned shirt in shades of brown, Mandela looked relaxed and cheerful as he listened attentively to the accolades being heaped on him.
14 dead in Afghan insurgent violence
KANDAHAR, Afghanistan -- Afghan troops clashed with Taliban insurgents attacking a supply convoy for NATO troops, killing nine militants, officials said Saturday. Roadside bombs killed a NATO soldier in a separate convoy and four policemen.
The violence came as Barack Obama arrived in Kabul with an official congressional delegation. It was the Democratic presidential contender's first visit to Afghanistan.
The militants were killed after they attacked a supply convoy for NATO-led troops in Zabul province, said provincial police official Jalali Khan. There were no casualties among Afghan troops, he said.
In neighboring Kandahar province, a blast struck a police patrol in Maywand district, killing four officers and wounding another, said Khan Mohammad, a police official.
Another bomb struck a NATO convoy in Kandahar's Panjwayi district, killing a soldier, NATO's press office in Kabul said. NATO did not release the dead soldier's nationality or say how many were wounded. Most of the troops in the area are Canadian. |
