A Vatican preacher said on Friday in the presence of Pope Benedict that the Catholic Church should hold a worldwide day of fasting and penitence to ask forgiveness for its priestly sexual abuse scandals.

Father Raniero Cantalamessa, whose official title is “preacher of the papal household”, made the suggestion during a pre-Christmas sermon to the Pope and Vatican officials.

Cantalamessa said the Church had “wept and sighed” recently over “abominations committed by her very ministers and pastors”.

A US sexual abuse scandal which erupted in Boston in 2002 spread to almost every Catholic diocese in the country. Many priests were prosecuted and payments of millions of dollars were made to scores of victims.

US church files have also revealed that some bishops repeatedly transferred priests accused of abusing minors to other parishes rather than reporting them to police.

Sexual abuse scandals have also hit Roman Catholic Churches in Ireland and other countries.

Cantalamessa said the time had come for the Church to “weep before God” over the scandal against "the smallest of its brothers".

He said the Church should call a “a day of fasting and penitence, at the local and national level, where the problem was worst, to publicly express sorrow before God and solidarity with the victims”.