Pope refuses to be intimidated by sex abuse claims

London, March 29 (ANI): Pope Benedict XVI has said that the Catholic Church would "not be intimidated" by the sexual abuse scandal surrounding it.

The 82-year-old Pontiff spoke to tens of thousands of pilgrims at St Peter's Square in a Palm Sunday service at the start of Holy Week.

"From God comes the courage not to be intimidated by petty gossip," The Telegraph quoted him as saying.

In his address, the Pope added. "Christ guides us towards goodness and does not let us be disarmed by ingratitude" and mentioned how man can sometimes "fall to the lowest, vulgar levels".

The Pope recently apologised following a string of shocking revelations claiming senior bishops in Ireland had been involved in covering up the crimes relating to the mistreatment of children.

But his historic apology failed to comfort the victims of sex abuse by Catholic priests in Ireland, who said the letter only referred to Ireland and not other regions and did not admit that the abuse was systematically covered-up. (ANI)