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The princes of the Catholic church rallied around their pope during Easter Sunday Mass in St. Peter's Square, with a senior cardinal defending Pope Benedict XVI from what he called "petty gossip" and hailing his "unfailing" leadership and courage.

But the pontiff himself ignored accusations that he perpetuated a climate of coverup for pedophile priests, even as sex abuse scandals threatened to overshadow his papacy.

Cardinal Angelo Sodano, dean of the College of Cardinals, issued a ringing endorsement of the Pope at the start of the Mass attended by tens of thousands of faithful, an unusual departure from the Vatican's Easter rituals.

"With this spirit today we rally close around you, successor to [St.] Peter, bishop of Rome, the unfailing rock of the holy church," Sodano said, speaking directly to the Pope. "Holy Father, on your side are the people of God, who do not allow themselves to be influenced by the petty gossip of the moment, by the trials which sometimes buffet the community of believers."

Sodano's sermon praised Benedict and the church's 400,000 priests around the world and gave the solemn and tradition-laden religious ceremony something of the air of a papal pep rally.

It was the climax of a vigorous campaign by the Holy See to counter what it calls a "vile" smear operation orchestrated by anti-Vatican media aimed at weakening the papacy and its moral authority.

The pontiff and many of his bishops have been assailed by accusations from victims of clergy sexual abuse, that Benedict helped shape and perpetuate a climate of coverup toward crimes against children in parishes, schools, orphanages and other church-run institutions.

Victims and their advocates are demanding that Benedict take personal responsibility.

Sodano's words irked a prominent advocacy group, the Survivors Network of those Abused by Priests.

"When we speak up and tell how our childhood innocence was shattered by sexual assaults by priests, it is not ‘petty gossip,'" SNAP president Barbara Blaine said in a statement.

Dressed in gold robes and shielded by a canopy from a cool drizzle, Benedict looked weary during much of the ceremony, the highlight of the church's most joyous celebrations of Holy Week. But as he listened intently to Sodano's paean, a smile broke across the Pope's face, and when the cardinal finished speaking, Benedict rose from his chair in front of the altar to embrace him.

The cardinal also rushed to the defence of all the Catholic priests who "generously serve the people of God, in parishes, recreation centres, schools, hospitals and many other places, as well as in the missions in the most remote parts of the world."

Benedict was holding up well against the campaign of "deceitful accusations" against him, Venice Cardinal Angelo Scola said in an interview on Italian state TV Sunday. Scola said he recently had dined with the Pope, who was drawing on his "usual spiritual energy."

Paris Cardinal Andre Vingt-Trois told Le Parisien newspaper that the Pope had become the target of what he called a campaign of "denigration and slander."

And Washington Archbishop Donald Wuerl joined those defending Benedict, writing in an opinion piece in Sunday's Washington Post that the Pope has supported U.S. bishops' commitment to child protection policies.

In Germany, where the church is facing intense criticism about the widening abuse scandal, a man attacked the Roman Catholic Bishop of Muenster with a broom handle during an Easter service in the city's cathedral, police said.

Bishop Felix Genn, 60, defended himself with an incense bowl and after the incident he calmly continued celebrating the Easter service.

Police said the man's motive was unclear.

Easter Sunday Mass was the last major Holy Week appearance by the Pope in Rome for the thousands of faithful who have poured into the city. They cheered Benedict at the end of Sunday's two-hour-long ceremony in the cobblestone square bedecked with daffodils, tulips and azaleas.

Benedict delivered the traditional "Urbi et Orbi" Easter message at the end of the two-hour mass.

He prayed for peace in the Middle East, and offered peace to the Christian communities in Iraq and Pakistan who are facing "trials and sufferings."

He said that Easter could mark the beginning of "the victory of peaceful coexistence and respect for the common good" in those Latin American countries plagued by drug trafficking-related crime.

Benedict also encouraged hope for the people of Haiti and Chile who have recently faced the devastation of major earthquakes.

Despite the continued calls from victims groups for the Pope to accept responsibility for the way he handled pedophilia in the church, Benedict made no mention of the ongoing sex abuse scandal in his message.

The Pope has remained silent on this issue since he delivered a letter about the abuse crisis in Ireland to that country's faithful last month.

The Vatican newspaper L'Osservatore Romano added its voice to those defending the pontiff on Sunday. The paper denounced the accusations against the Pope as a "vile defamation operation."

The Vatican's defence of the pontiff has angered abuse victims. Jewish leaders were offended by the Good Friday sermon of the Pope's preacher, in which Rev. Raniero Cantalamessa said the accusations faced by the Pope reminded him of the "more shameful parts of anti-Semitism."

On Sunday, Cantalamessa told Italian newspaper Corriere della Sera that he had no intention "of hurting the sensibilities of the Jews and of the victims of pedophilia."

"I have sincerely regretted and I ask forgiveness, reaffirming my solidarity with both" groups, he said.

With files from The Associated Press