The Vatican's investigator in the church's pedophilia scandal has warned priests that those who abuse children face a harder time in hell.
Monsignor Charles Scicluna, the head of the Congregation of the Doctrine of the Faith, led prayers in St Peter's Basilica on Saturday with students and seminarians from pontifical universities.
Citing a sixth-century saint, Scicluna said priests who abuse others instead of acting as role models would do better to remain outside of the Church "as their torment in hell would be more bearable", ANSA news agency reported.
The Roman Catholic Church has for months been embroiled in a series of sex abuse scandals amid allegations that the Vatican shielded predator priests from prosecution in several European countries and the United States.
During Saturday's service, prayers were said for the "victims of abuse perpetrated by men and women of the church so that their wounds can heal and they can find true peace", the report said.
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Prayers were also for priests "who have committed abuse so that they can confront in the light of the truth the consequences of their wrongs and accept the will of justice".
