Pope Benedict XVI urges strong action against sex-abuse of children

(November 26, 2011) Pope Benedict XVI insisted on Saturday that all of society's institutions and not just the Catholic church must be held to ``exacting'' standards in their response to sex abuse of children, and defended the church's efforts to confront the problem. The Pope acknowledged in remarks to visiting U.S. bishops during an audience at the Vatican that pedophilia was a ``scourge'' for society, and that decades of scandals over clergy abusing children had left Catholics in the United States bewildered. ``It is my hope that the Church's conscientious efforts to confront this reality will help the broader community to recognize the causes, true extent and devastating consequences of sexual abuse, and to respond effectively to this scourge which affects every level of society,'' he said Such abuses have tainted the church in many other countries The Pope told the bishops that his papal pilgrimage to the United States in 2008 ``was intended to encourage the Catholics of America in the wake of the scandal and disorientation caused by the sexual abuse crisis of recent decades.''.The bishops were making their five-yearly consultations with the Vatican, known technically as “Ad Limina”, literally meaning “to .the threshold (of the tomb of the apostles).