The Vatican preacher, Fr Raniero Cantalamessa said yesterday that criticism of the Roman Catholic Church over paedophilia scandals was similar to anti-Semitism, citing a letter of solidarity from a "Jewish friend" during a Good Friday observance.

"The stereotyping, the transfer of personal responsibility and blame to a collective blame reminds me of the most shameful aspects of anti-Semitism," the friend wrote, according to Fr Cantalamessa, the preacher to the Papal Household at the Vatican.

"I have followed with disgust the violent attack... against the Church (and) the Pope," said the letter read out by Fr Cantalamessa during the ceremony at St Peter's Basilica as Pope Benedict XVI looked on.

Speaking on the theme of violence, Fr Cantalamessa - by tradition the only person allowed to preach to the Pope - said he would not refer to that "inflicted on children, with which a consequential number of clergy have been tarnished (because) it is being discussed enough elsewhere."

Several Catholic prelates have rallied around the Pope ahead of the Easter weekend observances.

The child abuse scandal has engulfed much of Europe and the United States, prompting harsh criticism of the Vatican's handling of the scourge.

With new cases being reported almost daily, Cardinal Camillo Ruini, the Pope's vicar for Rome, told Vatican Radio that it was a "moment of suffering" for the Church.