Vatican officials moved to stem the rising tide of anger as details emerged of separate paedophilia scandals involving Catholic priests.

Spokesman Federico Lombardi def-ended the response of churches to paedophile priest scandals emerging in Austria, Germany, The Netherlands and elsewhere, saying that Roman Catholic leaders had reacted swiftly and decisively.

He also sought to put the issue into perspective, saying the sexual abuse of children went far beyond church walls.

Church leaders in the countries affected “have faced the emergence of problem with timely and decisive action”, Lombardi said on Vatican Radio.

“They have demonstrated their desire for transparency and, in a certain sense, accelerated the emergence of the problem by inviting victims to speak out, even when the cases involved date from many years ago,” Lombardi said.

He acknowledged the church’s moral responsibility made errors by clergy particularly reprehensible.

But he added: “All objective and well-informed people know that the question is much broader, and concentrating accusations against the Church alone gives a false perspective.”

For example, he said, data showed that during the period of the scandal in Austria, there had been 17 cases in church institutions, compared with 510 in other settings.

Meanwhile the pope was preparing a letter to Irish Catholics shocked by revelations that the church authorities covered up abuse of children by priests.