Easter became a festival of apology across the Christian world as church leaders issued mea culpas for grievous sins committed against children and God.

The Pope was one of the few who failed to refer at all to the crisis that is tarnishing the image of the Church worldwide — and that has even embroiled the leader of the Anglican Communion, Dr Rowan Williams. Before preaching at Canterbury Cathedral Dr Williams issued his own apology to the Catholic Church in Ireland for saying that it had lost "all credibility".

In his Easter Sunday Mass on St Peter’s Square the Pope made no reference to the crisis.

In his address Urbi et Orbi (To the City and the World), delivered to a packed crowed, the pontiff, 82, who has not referred to the scandal since his letter to Irish bishops two weeks ago, said that he would "not be intimidated by the chatter of dominant opinions" and noted that Jesus had "not reacted when insulted".