BOSTON — Cardinal Sean O'Malley of the Roman Catholic Archdiocese of Boston has invited Pope Benedict XVI to visit the city during the pontiff's planned U.S. trip next year, a gesture O'Malley believes would help mend wounds from the clergy sexual abuse crisis.

O'Malley said he has invited the pope to visit the heavily Catholic city next year, which marks the bicentennial of the Boston Archdiocese. The pope is already planning to make a trip to the United Nations in New York, and O'Malley hopes he can stop in Boston during the same trip. O'Malley said an appearance by the pope could help heal some of the lingering wounds for the city at the heart of the clergy sexual abuse scandal.

"Given everything Boston has been through, having the Holy Father come, I think, would be a great joy and a sense of affirmation to us as we celebrate the 200th anniversary of our church," O'Malley told the Boston Sunday Globe.