Those four words were spoken by Pope Benedict Saturday, in a dramatic and widely anticipated gesture that may help heal some deep wounds in the Australian church.

The AP has the story right here:

Pope Benedict XVI apologized Saturday to victims of child sex abuse by Roman Catholic clergy in Australia, describing their acts as evil and a grave betrayal of trust that has disgraced the church.

“I would like to pause to acknowledge the shame which we have all felt as a result of the sexual abuse of minors by some clergy … in this country,” Benedict told Australian bishops and other seminarians at a Mass.

“I am deeply sorry for the pain and suffering the victims have endured. I assure them as their pastor that I too share in their suffering,” he said.

“Those responsible for these evils must be brought to justice.”

Benedict has expressed regret before about the clergy abuse scandal that has rocked the church in recent years, notably during a visit to the United States in April when he also met privately with a small number of victims. But the language of Saturday’s apology was stronger than the pope’s comments in the United States.

There was no immediate word whether Benedict would meet with victims of clergy abuse during his Australia trip, which ends Monday.

Anthony Foster, the father of two Australian girls who were allegedly raped by a Catholic priest as children, has been publicly seeking a meeting with Benedict during his visit. He said he was disappointed the pope’s remarks repeated the church’s expressions of regret, but offered no practical assistance for victims.

“What we haven’t had is an unequivocal, unlimited practical response that provides for all the victims for their lifetime,” Foster said. “The practical response needs to include both financial help … and psychological help.”

Support groups for victims of church abuse in Australia, whose numbers are not known but who activists say are in the thousands, accuse the church of covering up the scale of the problem and fighting compensation claims lodged in civil courts.

The pontiff is in Australia to lead hundreds of thousands of pilgrims in the church’s World Youth Day, a global celebration meant to inspire a new generation of Catholics.

Benedict has spoken about the need to strengthen traditional Christian values including charity and chastity, and decried the selfishness and greed of today’s “cult of material possessions.”

He said Saturday the clergy sexual abuse scandal had badly damaged the church.

“These misdeeds, which constitute so grave a betrayal of trust, deserve unequivocal condemnation. They have caused great pain, they have damaged the church’s witness.”

In a less-enlightening gesture, some protesters decided to get into the act during the Pope’s visit, with a display that was, of course, dignified and mature:

More than 500 anti-pope activists faced off against happy pilgrims Saturday, shouting their distaste at papal policies as thousands of Catholic youth streamed past on their way to an evening address by Pope Benedict XVI.

The NoToPope coalition — some costumed as nuns, devils and priests — lined the edge of a park on the route of the pilgrims’ march, tightly ringed by police on foot, bicycles and horseback.

“The pope is wrong, put a condom on!” they shouted through megaphones. Some threw red-packaged condoms at the passing pilgrims.

But the young Catholics were at first merely curious, then smiled and waved and began their own singsong chant that carried down the ranks: “Benedicto! We love you!”

The activists — fresh from a court win this week that overturned a temporary state regulation against “annoying” the pilgrims — followed a mock popemobile to the park after an hourlong rally.

“We want to make it clear that we are not anti-religious, and we welcome the Catholic youth to our country,” said Rachel Evans, a leader of the coalition. “Our gripe is with Pope Benedict and the hierarchy of the church.”

The coalition condemns the pope’s policies against homosexuality, contraception and abortion. At the rally, costumed activists gave impassioned speeches on safe sex and held a contest for the T-shirt slogan most likely to annoy Roman Catholics.

The winner — judged by crowd applause — was a crude reference to Mary, Christ’s mother. The runner-up: “So many right-wing Christians, so few lions.”

The burlesque, boisterous protest in central Sydney included wigged drag queens and others draped in rainbow flags, and was in sharp contrast to the solemn papal Mass held earlier at a nearby cathedral.

“Jesus loves us all the same,” pilgrim Mark Choi shouted at the protesters at one point.

“I totally understand why they are here and I’m not going to take it personally,” said Choi, 18, from Silver Spring, Maryland. “But they don’t understand that we love everyone, homosexual or whatever. Arguing is not the way.”

The demonstrators waved inflated condoms and hoisted signs reading: “Would Jesus discriminate?” and “Bless me Father, for I am a homo.”

Photo: Pope Benedict XVI holds the Pastoral Staff as he celebrates a Mass in St. Mary’s Cathedral in Sydney, Australia, Saturday, July 19, 2008. Photo by Gregorio Borgia, AP