He would not be "intimidated" by criticisms of the Vatican over its handling a clerical sex abuse, Pope Benedict XVI said in a Palm Sunday mass.

The Times of London reported that the pontiff said that the Jesus Christ "leads us towards courage which does not allow us to be intimidated by the chatter of dominant opinions, towards patience which supports and sustains others." Benedict did not refer to accusations over his handling of cases of pedophile priests as archbishop of Munich from 1977 to 1982 and later as head of doctrine at the Vatican, the newspaper said.

The pope has actively fought clerical sexual abuse and noted he had met with victims in the United States in 2008 and in a recent pastoral letter to Irish bishops called abuse a "grave sin" and a "heinous crime," the Vatican said.

The Vatican is preparing for more revelations in the abuse scandal, the Times further reported.

As Cardinal Joseph Ratzinger, the newspaper noted, Benedict had allowed a pedophile priest to receive therapy in Munich in 1980. The priest later returned to pastoral work and was convicted in 1986 of abusing minors.

The Times further added that while Benedict was heading the Congregation for the Doctrine of the Faith, he told church officials to stop a church trial for Father Lawrence Murphy, who allegedly abused as many as 200 deaf boys in Wisconsin from 1950 to 1974.

It was also noted by Vatican spokesman Father Federico Lombardi that many of the abuse cases that have surfaced recently date back decades.

He said, "But recognizing them, and making amends to the victims, is the price of re-establishing justice and purifying memories that will let us look ahead with renewed commitment together, with humility and trust in the future." (With Inputs from Agencies)