A man who claims to have been abused by members of the clergy as a child described the Church's apology to sex abuse victims as "too little, too late".

Lawrence Grech's comments come as a Vatican's spokesman said yesterday Pope Benedict XVI was willing to meet more victims of clerical sexual abuse.

Mr Grech, one of 10 people testifying behind closed doors in a court case against three priests charged with sexually abusing minors, said the apology by Archbishop Paul Cremona and Gozo Bishop Mario Grech was weak.

"It is not enough. The Church should apologise to victims individually," Mr Grech insisted yesterday.

In a joint statement on Thursday, Mgr Cremona and Mgr Grech said the Church sympathised with the victims and felt the "need for repentance for the sins of those who committed these abuses".

But Mr Grech, who claims to have been abused as a teenager while living at the St Joseph Home in Sta Venera, said the Church should apologise to the victims and their families who were also affected by the repercussions of the abuse.

He questioned the timing of the apology and said it seemed intended to shut the victims up before the Pope's visit.

According to Italian news agency Ansa, the 37-year-old was going to be among the young people at the Valletta Waterfront holding a banner asking: "Is there justice?"

But when contacted yesterday evening, Mr Grech said that, although he was originally planning to protest, he had changed his mind because he did not want to be blamed for tarnishing the Pope's visit.

However, he and the other nine alleged victims are expected to hold a press conference on Monday.

The father-of-two called on the Pope to apologise to the victims during next week's visit. Speaking on Vatican Radio yesterday, Vatican spokesman Fr Federico Lombardi said "the Pope has written that he is available for new meetings" with victims.

When contacted, a spokesman for the Curia said the Malta Church had not received any requests by victims of clergy abuse to meet the Pope and the programme did not include any such meetings.

Fr Joe Borg, a lecturer and columnist, expressed certainty that the apology was completely independent from the Pope's visit. "I think they would still have apologised if the Pope was not coming," he said.

He pointed out that the apology by the Maltese Church followed the unprecedented letter of apology by the Pope to Irish victims and allegations surfacing in Europe.

Fr Borg hailed the bishops' apology, saying it showed remorse and that they did not go on the defensive. "The statement shows sincere concern by the bishops."

He said the attitude of abject silence, omertà, which existed in the past, was no longer present when it came to cases of child abuse. In fact, in their statement, the bishops said Christians were obliged to cooperate with the Church rather than disguising facts or remaining silent.

Fr Borg said the Church's response team also investigated cases of abuse that would have been time-barred in the eyes of the law.

Moreover, he said, norms established by Cardinal Joseph Ratzinger before he became Pope established that all cases had to be reported to the Vatican. Fr Borg said Cardinal Ratzinger had put child abuse as an offence on the same level as abuse of the Eucharist.

Fr Mark Sultana, director of the Church's Pastoral Formation Institute, said the apology verbalised the Church's feelings. "As people and as Christians we are very sorry for what happened to the victims," he said.

Fr Sultana said the Church had not just apologised but set up a response team back in 1999 to investigate cases of abuse.

According to a Curia spokesman, a total of 84 allegations of child abuse, involving 45 Maltese priests, were reported to the response team since 1999.

Adrian Gellel, a lecturer in pastoral theology, liturgy and Canon law, also welcomed the bishops' statement but said more worthy than the apology itself was the fact that the response team had been working to combat abuses for 11 years and the Church had called on its members to cooperate with the competent authorities.

"The sexual abuse of any person is an abhorrent crime equivalent to murder because its effects are devastating. This is more so when it is committed against children who are among the most vulnerable members of society," Dr Gellel said, adding there were no words or actions that could compensate for the evil committed.

He said minors' sexual abuse was not confined to the Church and it would be a mistake to highlight one section of society because it would protect other offenders perpetrating this crime in other settings, discrediting and tarnishing the invaluable work of the majority working within the Church.

"There is the need of true commitment by all, including legislators and other civil authorities, to combat abuse in all settings by any member of society so that no child may ever experience this trauma," Dr Gellel said.