Faithful divided as scandal clouds Easter

Squeezed into the crowd that gathered at the Colosseum on Good Friday, a young American priest bowed his head as the Pope climbed slowly to a stage to recount the Stations of the Cross, the devotion marking the Passion of Christ.

"Being here with the Pope helps this message penetrate the heart that much more deeply," whispered Father Theodore, a crewcut 31-year-old, in the hush before Benedict XVI began to speak.

"We are aware of the weight of the cross that the Pope bears right now, and that is why we have come to support him as he confronts the very challenging task of leading the church."

This has been an Easter like no other for the Vatican and a Pope who has been drawn into the sex-abuse scandals in Europe and America that threaten to undermine the credibility of the church.

As Benedict prepared for a gruelling stint of six long ceremonies over four days commemorating the Last Supper, the Crucifixion and the Resurrection, Vatican officials were busy waging war on the New York Times, after it suggested that Benedict himself allowed abusers to go unpunished in Munich and Wisconsin in the 1980s and 1990s.

The Pope's personal preacher, Father Raniero Cantalamessa, even claimed at a Good Friday mass that allegations that the Pope and other senior church figures colluded in a cover-up of child abuse were reminiscent of the "more shameful aspects of anti-Semitism".

The parallel outraged Jewish groups and also revealed the depth of insecurity and defensiveness that has taken hold in Vatican City.

The Pope's secretary of state, Cardinal Tarcisio Bertone, has warned of a "radical and murderous anti-Christian tendency" at large in Europe.

Within the hierarchies of the church there has been an instinctive closing of ranks.

But among the assembled laity that has flocked to Rome this Easter, there is a mood that is fearful, confused and, even among the most devoted, angry.

"I have come to Rome because I am a big Catholic, but I am very disappointed in Benedict after hearing about his inaction on this," said Anita Saitta, 58, one of thousands of Holy Week pilgrims filling Rome hotels and convents.

"Where I come from, Louisiana, we know all about paedophile priests, and I thought they had fixed this."

Benedict's first Easter appointment was with hundreds of priests who crammed into St Peter's to renew their vows. The dark background to this year's celebrations was not alluded to, but was clearly at the back of many minds.

"I am praying for priests," said a Vietnamese seminarian who was hanging back shyly in a side aisle.

"We need to be the model of Jesus when we are out there."

Benedict concentrated his remarks on other matters, issuing a stark condemnation of abortion.

There was no direct reference to abuse, although that did not surprise Alesseril Joseph, a 29-year-old Indian seminarian standing at the back of the cavernous basilica.

"It's painful," he said between prayers, "but the guilty are just a handful and there are plenty of scandals like this in society as a whole."

Outside in sunlit St Peter's Square, Ryan Knapp was in total agreement.

"It was just a small number of priests," said the student from Iowa.

"I was taught by priests all my life; nothing happened to me and I'd send my kids to a Catholic school."

Another American Catholic, Pedram Oveissi, protested that the Vatican had been proved to be gravely negligent.

"You find a sex offender? You have got to kick that guy out of the church," he said, displaying the anger typical of Catholics who have witnessed abuse at first hand.

Emerging into the square at the end of the mass, one Irish priest said that his visit to the basilica had helped restore morale.

"It was a great moment of solidarity," said Father Enda, 35.

"Seeing so many priests in there gave you hope, even though coming here to mark the moment that Jesus was betrayed makes many of us feel we have been betrayed by some of our own."

A more practical solution would be unequivocal orders from the Vatican to bishops everywhere to phone the police the moment they hear an abuse complaint, said Christina Liebisch from Austria.

"The Pope's letter to the Irish was just nice words; he is not offering solutions, and we are frustrated," she said. "Celibacy must become a choice."

Cardinal Bertone was in line among the white-robed bishops entering the packed basilica of St John Lateran for the Pope's second key Easter service, where Benedict poured water from a golden pitcher over the bare feet of 12 bishops, recalling Jesus's humble washing of the feet of the disciples before the Last Supper.

Bringing up the rear, Benedict was the only man to acknowledge the crowd with a smile. With the service under way, pilgrims without seats milled around in the side aisles, squatting down on the cold marble floor or propped against the confession booths.

Checking his iPhone for messages while waiting for Benedict's homily, Jose Torres from Mexico said he would not hear a word against the Pope.

"I have been here since Palm Sunday, when I was up very close to him," said Torres, 20, who came to Rome on an Opus Dei-backed Holy Week trip for 3000 students.

"I was so excited I couldn't think."

Five years ago, as the then Cardinal Ratzinger celebrated the Stations of the Cross on the eve of his election as Pope, he decried the "filth" in the church, referring to the paedophile priests he claimed were turning Catholicism into a "sinking ship".

At that time, as head of the Congregation for the Doctrine of the Faith, he was widely seen as one of the most active investigators of sex abuse allegations.

This Easter, the danger that his own papacy will founder on the issue is real and present.