00 18/04/2010 07:13
Pope Benedict XVI salutes faithful on April 17, 2010 outside St Paul church in Rabat. Pope Benedict XVI said Saturday the Roman Catholic Church had been wounded by sin as he flew to Malta on his first foreign trip since a wave of priest sex abuse scandals broke in Europe and the United States.

Pope Benedict XVI (L) arrives on April 17, 2010 at St Paul church in Rabat during his visit to Malta. Pope Benedict XVI said Saturday the Roman Catholic Church had been wounded by sin as he flew to Malta on his first foreign trip since a wave of priest sex abuse scandals broke in Europe and the United States.

Pope Benedict XVI salutes faithful on April 17, 2010 outside St Paul church in Rabat. Pope Benedict XVI said Saturday the Roman Catholic Church had been wounded by sin as he flew to Malta on his first foreign trip since a wave of priest sex abuse scandals broke in Europe and the United States.

Faithful greet Pope Benedict XVI (C) on April 17, 2010 at St Paul church in Rabat. Pope Benedict XVI said Saturday the Roman Catholic Church had been wounded by sin as he flew to Malta on his first foreign trip since a wave of priest sex abuse scandals broke in Europe and the United States.

Pope Benedict XVI (C) prays in front of faithful on April 17, 2010 outside St Paul church in Rabat. Pope Benedict XVI said Saturday the Roman Catholic Church had been wounded by sin as he flew to Malta on his first foreign trip since a wave of priest sex abuse scandals broke in Europe and the United States.

Pope Benedict XVI waves after visiting St. Paul's church in Rabat, outside Valletta April 17, 2010. Roman Catholicism has been "wounded by our sins", Pope Benedict said at the start of a two-day visit to Malta, but he avoided directly referring to the sexual abuse scandals sweeping the world's largest Church. The pope visited the grotto where Saint Paul is believed to have stayed when he came to Malta in 60 A.D. , converting the islanders to Christianity.

Pope Benedict XVI arrives in front of the Presidential Palace in Valletta April 17, 2010. Pope Benedict, starting a trip to Malta overshadowed by the sexual abuse scandal sweeping Roman Catholicism, said on Saturday that the Church had been "wounded by our sins." The pope is in Malta for the celebrations of the 1950th anniversary of the coming of Saint Paul to the island and its conversion to Christianity.
Pope Benedict XVI prays in the Saint Paul church in Rabat, Malta, Saturday, April 17, 2010.
Pope Benedict XVI prays inside St Paul's Grotto in Rabat, outside Valletta April 17, 2010. Roman Catholicism has been "wounded by our sins", Pope Benedict said at the start of a two-day visit to Malta, but he avoided directly referring to the sexual abuse scandals sweeping the world's largest Church. The pope visited the grotto where Saint Paul is believed to have stayed when he came to Malta in 60 A.D. , converting the islanders to Christianity.
A woman waits for the arrival of Pope Benedict XVI on April 17, 2010 outside St Paul church in Rabat during the Pontiff's visit to Malta. Pope Benedict XVI said Saturday the Roman Catholic Church had been wounded by sin as he flew to Malta on his first foreign trip since a wave of priest sex abuse scandals broke in Europe and the United States.

A woman waits for the arrival of Pope Benedict XVI on April 17, 2010 outside St Paul church in Rabat. Pope Benedict XVI said Saturday the Roman Catholic Church had been wounded by sin as he flew to Malta on his first foreign trip since a wave of priest sex abuse scandals broke in Europe and the United States.

People wait for the arrival of Pope Benedict XVI on April 17, 2010 outside St Paul church in Rabat. Pope Benedict XVI said Saturday the Roman Catholic Church had been wounded by sin as he flew to Malta on his first foreign trip since a wave of priest sex abuse scandals broke in Europe and the United States.