As the scandal has rolled on, it was revealed that the pope himself once helped get housing for a clergyman accused of child sex abuse in his former diocese of Munich.

Hitting out at the claims, the Vatican has accused the media of an "ignoble" attempt to smear the pope.

Speaking during a "Passion of the Lord" service on the day Christians commemorate Jesus' death by crucifixion, Father Cantalamessa said Jews throughout history had been the victims of "collective violence".

And in pointing out that the Jewish Passover and Christian Easter have fallen in same week this year, he compared anti-Semitism to the current attacks on the Church.

He went on to read the congregation an excerpt from a letter he received from a Jewish friend, who said he was "following with disgust the violent and concentric attacks against the Church".

"The use of stereotypes, the shifting of personal responsibility and guilt to a collective guilt remind me of the most shameful aspects of anti-Semitism," he quoted from the letter.

Go fcuk yourself. There's nothing violent or centred about the so-called 'attacks' - it's the media and the public wanting answers on questions of widespread perversion

And the use of stereotypes? Even if that is going on, and I haven't seen it, who's fault is the stereotype of a paedo priest?

'What do you mean you were raped by a priest? Why, that's just stereotyping!'

'The shifting of personal responsibility and guilt to a collective guilt' is precisely why the Catholic church is in so much trouble, and to play the sectarian/racism card would be laughable if it wasn't such a serious issue.

Dr Williams said: "I was speaking to an Irish friend recently who was saying that it's quite difficult in some parts of Ireland to go down the street wearing a clerical collar now.

On Sunday, Cardinal Keith O'Brien, the head of the Roman Catholic Church in Scotland, is expected to apologise during his Easter address in Edinburgh to the victims of paedophile priests.

He will say: "Crimes against children have indeed been committed and any Catholics who were aware of such crimes and did not act to report them, brings shame on us all."

The pontiff has been accused personally of failing to take action against a suspected abuser during his tenure as archbishop of Munich - a claim the Vatican strongly denies.

Critics also say that when he was prefect of the Congregation for the Doctrine of the Faith, which deals with sex abuse cases, he did not act against a US priest who is thought to have abused some 200 deaf boys.

On Friday, the Associated Press reported that the then-Cardinal Joseph Ratzinger had also allowed a case against a priest in Arizona to languish at the Vatican for years, despite repeated pleas from a local bishop for the man to be removed from the priesthood.

Documents showed that in 1990, members of a Church tribunal found that Rev Michael Teta had molested children as far back as the late 1970s, it said.

The panel referred the case to Cardinal Ratzinger. But it took 12 years from the time the future Pope assumed control of the case in a signed letter until Rev Teta was removed from the ministry, it was alleged.

AP reported it had seen other documents which indicated that as a Vatican cardinal, Benedict was also warned of allegations against another Arizona priest, Msgr Robert Trupia.

A bishop had labelled Trupia "a major risk factor to the children, adolescents and adults", but it was not clear from the case files whether Cardinal Ratzinger had replied, reported AP.

I see Williams has apologised... If he was sincere in the first instance, I hate to see him backing down now

Anti semitism is an attack on a group of people based on their religion and ethic origin.

The attacks on the Catholic church is down to the behaviour of a few of it’s clergy and the failure of the organisation as a whole to act on the problem.

I see no correlation between the two to be honest.

So has the preacher who made the statement.

http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/world/europe/8602504.stm

During Mass in St Peter's Square Cardinal Angelo Sodano, dean of the College of Cardinals, paid tribute to the Pope as he wished him a happy Easter.

"Holy Father, the people of God are with you and will not let themselves be influenced by the petty gossip of the moment, by the trials that sometimes assail the community of believers," the cardinal said.

His remarks echoed earlier comments by Pope Benedict.

A week ago, with the Church already under pressure over the abuse allegations, the Pope said his faith would help give him the courage to deflect "petty gossip".

Considering that they have compared anti semitism to the current crisis for the Catholic church does that mean that the Holocaust was petty gossip as well?

Vincent Nichols, the head of the Catholic Church in England and Wales, said "serious sins" had been committed within the Catholic community.

During his homily at Westminster Cathedral, Archbishop Nichols said: "Talk of sin is not always popular - unless we are talking about other people's sins.

"In recent weeks the serious sins committed within the Catholic community have been much talked about.

"For our part, we have been reflecting on them deeply, acknowledging our guilt and our need for forgiveness."

'Attacks On Vatican As Bad As Anti-Semitism'