Vatican official says Pope in great pain over child sex abuse in Church

(April 9, 2010) The clerical sex abuse scandal rattling the Catholic Church worldwide is causing Pope Benedict XVI great pain, Vatican Secretary of State Cardinal Tarcisio Bertone said on Thursday. The prelate said that like all pastors, the Pope has suffered greatly for the cases of sex abuse of minors by priests. The comments were reported by the ANSA news agency during Cardinal Bertone's trip to Chile. The Vatican’s topmost official after the Pope insisted the Church has the “inner strength” necessary to keep up its mission, according to the report. Cases of abuse in Curch-run institutions are rocking the church across the world, including Pope Benedict's native Germany. On Thursday, Norway's Catholic Church said it has received new allegations of clergy abuse, one day after revealing that its former head Bishop Georg Mueller resigned after admitting to abusing a boy about 20 years earlier, when he was a priest. The current bishop, Bernt Eidsvig, said he has received e-mails alleging new cases of abuse. But he said the nature and seriousness of the allegations remain unclear.