Church in the World

Pope sends video message to US ahead of historic

In the run-up to his six-day journey to New York City and Washington, DC, Pope Benedict XVI has taken the rare step of sending the American people a video-recorded message that tries to spell out the spiritual aims of the visit. "Before setting off [from Rome], I would like to offer you a heartfelt greeting and an invitation to prayer," the Pope said in heavily accented English.

Noting that the theme of the 15-20 April visit is "Christ, Our Hope", the Pope said: "I shall come to the United States of America as Pope for the first time to proclaim this great truth: Jesus Christ is hope for men and women of every language, race, culture and social condition." The five-and-a-half minute message was unveiled to journalists on Tuesday at a Vatican briefing. Within hours the no-frills video was on the  Internet site YouTube.

Pope Benedict said that while he would "only be able to visit two cities", the visit's aim was to "reach out spiritually to all Catholics in the United States" and offer a "fraternal gesture" to other Christians, as well as a "sign of friendship" to other believers.

In an interview with Associated Press , Cardinal Tarcisio Bertone SDB said that the Pope would also address the pain caused by the

clergy sex-abuse crisis - probably at Mass with clergy and Religious on 19 April at St Patrick's Cathedral in New York. The Vatican Secretary of State said the crisis had caused "so much suffering for the victims, for the families and above all for the Church because it was in contradiction with the great educational mission of the Church". He said the Pope would "try to open the path of healing and reconciliation".

Vatican sources said it seemed unlikely that Cardinal Bernard Law, the former Archbishop of Boston and prime symbol of episcopal mismanagement of the abuse crisis who has lived in virtual exile in Rome since 2004, would join the other 16 US cardinals for the papal visit.

This week, one of the most visible lay organisations to have led protests over the abuse - Voice of the Faithful - ran a full-page advertisement in the New York Times, calling for more accountability and lay participation in church decision-making.

American journalists had hoped to interview Pope Benedict, as their Polish and German colleagues had done in 2005 and 2006 before he went to their countries. It is unclear why the proposal was declined.