I’ve received a few — four at noon — calls from readers livid over our coverage and display of Pope Benedict XVI’s historic first visit to the United States.

“I am deeply ashamed,” read our top headline.

Smaller label words atop that headline said: “Pope addresses clergy sex abuse scandal as he arrives in U.S.”

Post-Dispatch editors yesterday afternoon discussed whether the pope’s visit should be on the front page today. Mere coverage of the historic visit was unlikely to make the A1 lineup, we agreed, because that would provide little new to readers. Readers have known for some time that he was arriving Tuesday. (We had a substantial front page story Sunday written by religion writer Tim Townsend advancing the visit and explaining its meaning to local Catholics.)

We rarely put stories on the front page just to mark a historic moment. TV, radio and online news sources like STLtoday.com make “historic” events seem pretty stale by the next morning. We always strive to provide more context and depth to stories that readers may have heard elsewhere as just broadcast headlines.

Editors agreed yesterday that it might be an A1 story if the pope addressed the clergy sex scandal. And he did address it.

Ultimately, we selected a Newsday article to run on Page One. The third paragraph of the story explained why we felt it worthy of A1 display:

“En route to the United States aboard the Alitalia plane Shepherd One, Benedict addressed the most contentious issue facing the American church: the clergy abuse scandal that has strained relations with lay Catholics and prompted scores of lawsuits costing the church hundreds of millions of dollars”

Later in the story, in the continuation on Page A8, these two paragraphs also attempted to offer context:

“Benedict’s comments are his most extensive on the scandal since he became leader of the world’s 1 billion Catholics in 2005.

“A question about the scandals — submitted by a reporter in advance — was one of four chosen by Vatican officials for the pope to address while flying to the United States. The pontiff spoke to reporters for about 15 minutes on topics that included immigration and the role of religion in life. “

The few readers who contacted me this morning strongly disagreed with our thinking.

“The worst thing you’ve ever done,” said one caller, who insisted that “someone needs to be fired.” He identified himself as a Mizzou journalism grad, a practicing lawyer and a Catholic.

His chief complaint was that an interview on an airplane was “not a story, not an event that occurred. It’s artificial. Something a reporter forced by asking the question. It had nothing to do with his visit.”

Another caller said we “missed the purpose of his visit, which is to address the U.N. regarding poverty. If you just want to stir up ill will, you’ve done a good job. You should be working toward helping the poor.”

A look at other newspapers showed a range of approaches.

The Minneapolis Star-Tribune had headlines almost identical to the Post-Dispatch:

“I am deeply ashamed, pope says” read the big words. Smaller words said: “On his first U.S. visit as pontiff, he vowed pedophiles would not be Catholic priests”

The Boston Globe had a more mixed tone, certainly more welcoming than our headline. (All things being equal, I like it more than our.) It read: “A hearty welcome, a contrite tone.”

The New York Times said: “Pope, in U.S., is “ashamed” of pedophile priests.”

The Washington Post said: “Pontiff begins historic visit.” Smaller words said: “Bush greets Benedict, who said he was “deeply ashamed” of clergy abuse scandals.”

Other front pages can be viewed at the online site Newseum .

One reader says he will campaign to get me and others at the Post-Dispatch fired. Another reader told me that she would pray for me.

It’s a hot topic, no doubt. Your thoughts on our coverage and play of the pope’s visit?