In a strongly-worded letter to bishops and heads of religious institutions published on Thursday, Pope Francis demanded their full cooperation with the child protection commission he established, which is due to hold its first full meeting in Rome on Friday.

"Everything possible must be done to rid the Church of the scourge of the sexual abuse of minors and to open pathways of reconciliation and healing to those who were abused," he wrote, adding that families needed to know the Church was making every effort to protect their children and that they could turn to the Church for support.

"Consequently, priority must not be given to any other kind of concern, whatever its nature, such as the desire to avoid scandal, since there is absolutely no place in ministry for those that abuse minors."

The Catholic Church, which counts 1.2 billion people as members, has for years been struggling with the issue of sexual abuse of children by clergy and attempts to cover up that abuse. The scandal drew worldwide attention following the uncovering in 2002 of child sex abuse within the Church in the US city of Boston. A UN watchdog has criticized the Church for its handling of the problem.

Since he became pope, Francis has repeatedly spoken out against sex offenders. He established the Pontifical Commission for the Protection of Minors to tackle the issue of child sexual abuse. It is headed by an American cardinal, Sean O'Malley, the archbishop of Boston who took over there after his predecessor, Cardinal Bernard Law, resigned in the wake of the abuse scandal in 2002. The commission is made up of a further 16 people including clergy, lay people and sexual abuse survivors from several nations.

se/kms (AFP, Reuters)