VATICAN CITY (Reuters) - The Vatican said on Tuesday Pope Benedict was willing to meet more sexual abuse victims but not under media pressure and scoffed at calls for the pope to be arrested when he visits Britain in September.

Pope Benedict XVI waves during the Sunday Angelus prayer at his residence of Castelgandolfo, south of Rome April 11, 2010. REUTERS/Osservatore Romano

A lawyer for British author and atheist campaigner Richard Dawkins said in London at the weekend he would try to have Pope Benedict arrested to face questions over accusations the Church covered up cases of sexual abuse of children by priests.

Asked about this at a briefing on the pope’s trip to Malta this weekend, Vatican spokesman Father Federico Lombardi scoffed.

“This is a bizarre idea to say the least. It looks like the intent is to make a public opinion splash. I think they should look for something more serious and concrete before we can respond to it,” he said.

“The pope’s visit (to Britain) is a visit of state, and so it would be very strange if during a state visit the person who is invited to make a state visit is arrested,” he said.

Dawkins, a scientist and outspoken critic of religion, has asked human rights lawyers to examine whether charges could be brought against the pope during the September 16-19 trip.

The Vatican has rejected accusations the pope helped to cover up abuse by priests in jobs he held before his election in 2005 and has accused the media of waging a “despicable campaign of defamation” against him.

In Washington, the American Humanist Association, which advocates the rights of non-believers, backed Dawkins’ view that the pope should not have diplomatic immunity as a head of state and called for a “criminal investigation” of the church.

“Religious institutions should not be exempt from such scrutiny just because they are religious, and they should be held accountable for any criminal wrongdoing,” the AHA said in a statement.

The Vatican said last week that Benedict, who travels to Malta on Saturday, would be willing to meet more victims, as he had during his trips to the United States and Australia.

The pope feels that meetings with victims should take place “in a climate that is intentionally one of reflection, discreet, and not under pressure of the glare of the media, so he can have a real possibility to listen and communicate personally,” Lombardi said.

MALTESE MEN SUING PRIESTS

Ten Maltese men who are suing three priests for alleged child abuse have requested a private meeting with the pope.

Lombardi said he could not say if a meeting would take place. “I am not the one who decides what the pope does during his trips,” Lombardi said, adding that such meetings were not announced in advance but confirmed only after they take place.

A spokesman for the Maltese men said they wanted a meeting “to help us heal and to overcome this trauma”.

So far, the pope has not spoken out directly on the new wave of sexual abuse allegations that is besetting the Church in a number of countries, including the United States, Italy and his native Germany. He last spoke about it in a letter to the Irish people on March 20.

In Malta, which is about 95 percent Catholic, billboards publicising the papal visit were daubed last week with images related to sexual abuse.

The crisis over abuse of children by priests shows no sign of abating, with new revelations emerging almost daily and the Vatican scrambling to find a response strategy.

On Monday the Vatican published an online guide to rules for handling sex abuse charges against priests. It made clear high up that bishops must report crimes to the police, saying that “civil law concerning reporting of crimes to the appropriate authorities should always be followed”.

Also on Monday, a new report commissioned by the Church in Germany said children were “sadistically tormented and also sexually abused” at a Catholic monastery in the heavily Catholic Bavaria region.