A divorcee, Joanne, 52 from Mosta knows that her status puts her at odds with the Church's teachings, but yesterday she was present in Valletta to greet Pope Benedict XVI and show support for her spiritual leader.

"My relationship with God is personal and despite what I have been through, my faith has strengthened. My tribulations have helped me grow spiritually and I do wish that more members of the clergy understand the circumstances people like me find themselves in," she said, while standing behind the barricades in Republic Street.

Life taught her that everybody can make mistakes, even priests, and this is why the current spate of allegations of sex abuse by the clergy have not dented her faith.

"The allegations did worry me and I thought hard about them. I felt the Church did not handle them correctly and unfortunately people pointed fingers at the Pope. However, as Christians we should trust in God because only He can heal us," she said.

Joanne agreed that the Church should apologise for the sex abuse crimes perpetrated by members of the clergy, insisting she condemned the action and not the person.

"Apologising is an act of humility and it is right for the Church to do so with the victims. But I also agree that the time to apologise should be for the Pope to choose," she said, insisting Christians were also called to pray for forgiveness.