The most senior Vatican official ever charged in the Catholic Church sex abuse crisis has appeared in an Australian court.

THE Pope has labelled abortion and gay marriage two of the most “insidious and dangerous” threats facing the world today.

A 27-year-old seminary student has been charged with possession and distribution of child pornography as an investigation widened into Austria’s worst church sex scandal in nearly a decade.

Former Governor General Peter Hollingworth, who resigned as the Queen’s representative in Australia a year ago over a paedophilia scandal, said today he took too long to comprehend the damage of child abuse.