澳洲新闻 (ABC新闻快递) 2010-09-17（在线收听）

Pope Benedict XVI has arrived in the United Kingdom. The 83-year-old Pontiff was greeted by the Queen in Edinburgh before celebrating Mass for 70,000 Scottish Catholics.

He told the crowd that secularism in the UK threatened to damage society and that he was shocked about child abuse by priests in the church. Our Europe correspondent Emma Alberici reports.

Before the plane had even touched down, the Pope was addressing the topic chief among the minds of many Britons awaiting his historic visit to the UK.

Clerical child abuse, he said, had shocked and saddened him. The authority of the church had not been sufficiently vigilant and was too slow to act. Helping the victims recover and renew their faith was his priority. There was no mention of the serious crimes or of allegations of the cover-up by the Vatican. Instead, the Pope labelled pedophilia an illness. At Holyrood Palace, 500 years of division between the Catholics and the Anglicans were put aside as the Queen welcomed her guest.

"We hold that freedom to worship is at the core of our tolerant and democratic society."

Like all state visits, the anthem was played as the head of the Holy See blamed atheism for The Holocaust and said that religion was the only path to peace.

"Today, the United Kingdom strives to be a modern and multicultural society. In this challenging enterprise, may it always maintain its respect for those traditional values and cultural expressions that more aggressive forms of secularism no longer value or even tolerate."

More than 125,000 flag-waving pilgrims lined the streets of Edinburgh to watch the Popemobile go by.

"My husband and I are both Roman Catholics and we are just very excited about what just come through to Edinburgh and be part of it."

"It's a once in a lifetime, chance for me , really."

Protesters called for the Vatican to hold an inquiry into sex abuse to recognize homosexuals and to respect women's rights. But further down the road, as 70,000 mostly young revellers gathered at Bellahouston Park in Glasgow, the mood was more pop concert, less papal mass.

"Everybody is excited and most are students. That's great."

He stopped like all good leaders to kiss a baby, perhaps trying to deflect his image as a shy academic.

"Forgive us our sins, and bring us to everlasting life."

As the Pope makes his way to the capital, he's hoping to bring a message of tolerance and peace to a society, he believes, has been damaged by secularism.

The Pope will meet the prime minister tomorrow. Unlike the previous papal visit in 1982, this is the first time in history that a British government has actually invited the Pontiff to the UK.

Emma Alberici, ABC News, London.