Vatican Backs Pope in Letter Row

The Vatican has defended the Pope against allegations that he was responsible for delaying Church action against a US pedophile priest.

A spokesman said the claims, which stem from a letter signed by Benedict XVI when he was a senior Vatican official, had been taken out of context.

AP published a letter, signed by Cardinal Joseph Ratzinger in 1985, resisting Stephen Kiesle's defrocking. The Vatican says he was exercising due caution before sacking the priest.

A leading British Catholic commentator said the issue had exposed an ongoing power struggle between senior Vatican cardinals that started during the papacy of Pope Benedict's predecessor, John Paul II.

In the letter, Cardinal Ratzinger - who was at the time the head of the Congregation for the Doctrine of the Faith - said the "good of the universal Church" needed to be considered in any defrocking.

A Vatican spokesman said the letter was part of a long correspondence and should not be taken out of context.

"The press office doesn't believe it is necessary to respond to every single document taken out of context regarding particular legal situations," said Fr Federico Lombardi.

He acknowledged that the Church had lost public trust and said Church law could no longer be placed above civil laws if that trust were to be recovered.

This is an abrupt change of tone by the Vatican, says BBC religious affairs correspondent Robert Pigott. Officials had previously accused critics of trying to smear the Pope personally and only last weekend said he should ignore petty gossip directed at him.

The Catholic Church has been hit by a series of child abuse scandals in recent years, including in Ireland, the US, Germany and Norway, and has faced criticism for failing to deal adequately with the problem.