Pope: Priests must protect children

POPE Benedict XVI told priests yesterday to safeguard children in their charge from evil and win the “absolute” trust of their flock, even as his own papacy is clouded by accusations he and other top churchmen failed to protect minors adequately from paedophile clergy.

Since a trip to Malta a week earlier when he wept with adults who had been sexually abused as children by priests, Benedict seems to be stepping up his reaction as the scandal deepens and widens, posing the most challenging crisis in decades for the Roman Catholic church.

Benedict, in remarks to the public in St. Peter’s Square yesterday, told priests they must “fight for the defence of the flock,” defend their charges from “evil” and ensure the faithful can place “absolute trust” in their pastors.