A senior cardinal has said the Roman Catholic faithful will not be swayed by "petty gossip" about child sex-abuse allegations.
Cardinal Angelo Sodano, dean of the College of Cardinals, made the remark in an unusual message of support to Pope Benedict XVI during Easter Mass.
The Pope did not mention the scandal directly in his Easter address.
He said humanity was suffering from a "profound crisis" and needed "spiritual and moral conversion".
Meanwhile, the Pope's personal preacher has apologised for comparing criticism of the Catholic Church over child abuse to "collective violence suffered by the Jews" in a Good Friday sermon.
Fr Raniero Cantalamessa told Italy's Corriere della Sera newspaper that he had only meant to point to "the use of stereotype and the easy passage from individual to collective guilt".
