Pope omits abuse scandals from Easter address

POPE BENEDICT XVI kept mum on paedophile priest scandals rocking the Roman Catholic Church during his Easter Mass yesterday, as Christians across the world marked the resurrection of Christ.

While condemning persecution and lamenting the “suffering” of Christian minorities in Iraq and Pakistan, Benedict failed to mention any abuse by priests.

Rallying around the embattled head of the Roman Catholic Church in a rain-drenched St Peter’s Square, the dean of the College of Cardinals told the Pope in an unusual greeting: “The people of God are with you and do not allow themselves to be impressed by the idle chatter of the moment.”