'Sin within the Church' threat to Catholicism: Pope

Pope Benedict said on Tuesday that the greatest threat to Catholicism came from "sin within the Church", one if his most forthright comments so far on a sexual abuse scandal that has created turmoil in the church.                                           

The Church has "a very deep need" to recognise that it must do penitence for its sins and "accept purification", he said.         

"Today we see in a truly terrifying way that the greatest persecution of the Church does not come from outside enemies but is born of sin within the Church," Benedict told reporters on the plane to Portugal, replying to a question about the scandal.                  

In recent weeks, a number of Vatican officials have accused the media, gays or progressives of waging a smear campaign against the Church. One top Vatican official even dismissed reports of a cover-up of sexual abuse of children by priests as "petty gossip".                                           

The 83-year-old German pontiff, facing the worst crisis of his five-year-old papacy, said the Church had to seek forgiveness from victims of sexual abuse but also recognised that "forgiveness cannot be a substitute for justice".                       

The pope promised abuse victims he met in Malta last month the Church would do all it could to investigate allegations, bring to justice those responsible for abuse and implement effective measures to protect young people in the future.                       

But the scandal shows no sign of abating. On Saturday Bishop Walter Mixa of Augsburg, who has been accused of sexually abusing minors, became the first bishop in the pope's native Germany to step down over the scandal.                                           
 

In recent weeks, a Belgian bishop resigned after admitting he had sexually abused a boy and three Irish bishops quit over their handling of sexual abuse cases.