Pope Benedict XVI and four Roman Catholic bishops in Kentucky asked the US state's governor to commute the death sentence of an inmate set to be executed on September 16.

The Vatican, dragged deeper than ever into the clergy sex abuse scandal, is launching a legal defence that it hopes will shield the Pope from a US lawsuit seeking to have him answer questions under oath.

A woman has claimed she was sexually abused more than 40 years ago by the president of the US Conference of Catholic bishops.