The Pope must be looking forward to his trip to Malta. If the skies remain as kind as they are at present, he will find clement weather and - with a largely welcoming press and even more enthusiastic public - he will be a world away from the storms he has had to endure in Rome in recent days.

Sex scandals concerning priests in the Catholic Church have come and gone in the past decade or so. But the ones of late show no sign yet of abating. They have stung the Church like never before. Just when it seems one is over, another strikes. No one should be under any illusions that this is a tough time for the global Church.

When the extent of abuse by paedophile priests in Ireland - a bastion for the Catholic Church in Europe - became public, thanks largely to a candid exposition by the Archbishop of Dublin, the apology issued by the Pope himself in an unprecedented pastoral letter was deemed by some to be not enough, even though he expressed remorse in the strongest of terms, saying: "You have suffered grievously and I am truly sorry. Your trust has been betrayed and your dignity violated."

While the atomic mushroom still hung heavily over the Emerald isle, another missile with a nuclear warhead was launched from America, this time implicating Pope Benedict XVI himself in a cover-up.

The new accusation was that the Pontiff, while he was a cardinal heading the Congregation for the Doctrine of Faith - the Church body responsible for dealing with cases of abuse - had failed to act over complaints during the 1990s about a priest in the US who allegedly abused some 200 deaf boys. Never before has such an allegation landed so close to the Pope's doorstep, and sections of the media have tried their damndest to make it stick.

While there is no doubting that the accusations made against the priest in question, Fr Lawrence Murphy, were well-grounded and utterly condemnable, there seems to be little evidence to suggest that Cardinal Joseph Ratzinger, who only became officially aware of the case in 1996 - at least two decades after complaints were made to US police - could have taken a significantly different course of action to the one he adopted. Many have chosen to overlook the significant fact that Fr Murphy was sick and died shortly after the Vatican was informed.

Benedict XVI, who is arguably the first modern Pope in history to be subjected to these kinds of virulent attacks while in office, can overcome his critics with fact and argument. After all, it was under his stewardship that the Congregation introduced a number of measures aimed at tackling abuse. His brethren priests, however, who do not have such public profile, are going to find it more difficult because on a daily basis they have to face an increasingly sceptical public.

Yet the Church must try harder than ever before to make the public understand that paedophiles are seldom priests, but people who manoeuvre into positions that can bring them into contact with children. That has, on occasion, included priesthood. It must convince too that bishops will adopt a transparent and zero-tolerance policy to abuse.

In his pastoral letter, the Pope made another significant statement - "I openly express the shame and remorse we all feel" - that will ring painfully true in the ears of many clergymen. And it would indeed be tragic if the despicable actions of the few should overshadow the exemplary conduct of the many.