Pope: abuse are a "scourge"

Pope Benedict XVI insisted yesterday Saturday that all institutions of society, and not only the Catholic Church, must be subjected to "high standards" in the way that respond to the sexual abuse of children, and defended the efforts of the Church to deal with the problem.

During an audience at the Vatican where he was visited by American Bishops, Pope Benedict XVI acknowledged that pederasty is a "scourge" of society, and that Catholics in United States were dismayed to learn of the scandal of priests pedophiles who acted with impunity for decades.

"I hope that the efforts of awareness of the Church to deal with this reality help the community in general to recognize the causes, the actual size and the devastating consequences of the sexual abuse, and to respond effectively to this scourge that affects all levels of society," said.

"In the same way, to the" u000a"just that the Church is rightly subjected to the most demanding in this respect standards, all other institutions, without exception, must conform to the same standards", said Pope.

No reference to the accusations of many of the victims and their supporters that several leaders of the Church, including the Office of the Vatican Pope Benedict XVI addressed before becoming Pontiff, tried to cover up the scandals.

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