In a forceful call to his clergy, Pope John Paul II said Friday that the church must lead the way in protecting youngsters from adult sex predators.
"The church must repeatedly recall the need to protect all people, especially the young, being weak and defenseless," the pope told bishops from Belgium.He said children were often the "targets of perverted adults."
Belgium has been battered by a series of pedophile scandals, the worst being the bungled investigation into a child sex ring blamed for the deaths of at least four girls.
John Paul asked the bishops to give the families of child sex victims assurances that "the pope remembers them in his prayers."
Belgian Cardinal Godfried Danneels had raised the issue with the pope, decrying that "our country has had a tormented year: the violence practiced on children has created a true trauma."