Top Stories
(2010-04-04)
Pope Benedict XVI embraces Italian cardinal Angelo Sodano as he leads the Easter mass in Saint Peter's Square at the Vatican
A cardinal says Pope Benedict is holding up well against what the cardinal calls a campaign of "deceitful accusations" against him.
The comments from Angelo Scola of Venice on Italian state TV are just part of the Vatican's defense of the pontiff today.
Benedict himself has avoided any mention of the widening church sex abuse scandal, and the allegations of a Vatican cover-up of abuse claims.
But at the start of Easter Sunday Mass in St. Peter's Square, the dean of the College of Cardinals said Benedict was the target of what he called "petty gossip."
That brought an angry response from a group that advocates on behalf of victims of abuse by priests. The head of that group says it's not "petty gossip" when people speak up about how their "childhood innocence was shattered."
© Copyright 2012, Associated Press
