SYDNEY: Pope Benedict XVI met victims of child-abusing clergymen before flying out of Australia on Monday after a visit in which he made a historic apology for the scourge of paedophilia in the church.

The pope, who two days earlier had publicly expressed his "shame" over the "evils" of sex abuse committed by members of the order, held mass with four Australian victims and offered them consolation, the Vatican said.

"Assuring them of his spiritual closeness, he promised to continue to pray for them, their families and all victims," a statement said.

"Through this paternal gesture, the Holy Father wished to demonstrate again his deep concern for all those who have suffered sexual abuse."

The pontiff met two male and two female victims at St Mary's Cathedral House in Sydney shortly before flying out after a nine-day visit during which he led hundreds of thousands of pilgrims in World Youth Day celebrations.

"As I bid you farewell with deep gratitude in my heart, may God bless the people of Australia," the 81-year-old pope said before boarding his chartered Qantas Boeing 747-400 for the nearly 21-hour journey to Rome.

The pontiff was seen off at the airport by Prime Minister Kevin Rudd, who described the visit, the longest of the pope's reign, as one of "great significance".

Rudd, a committed Christian who attends Anglican services, also announced that former Australian deputy Prime Minister Tim Fischer would become Australia's first resident ambassador to the Vatican.

The pope's trip was partly overshadowed by the controversy of sex abuse and his public comments on an issue which has plagued the church globally went further than ever before.

In a visit to the United States in April, the pope spoke of the shame and suffering that abusive priests had brought upon the church, but stopped short of a direct apology.

In Sydney, Benedict said he was "deeply sorry", called for those responsible to be punished and for victims to be compensated.

Some Australian victims dismissed the pope's apology as simply rhetoric without action and said he should have apologised in front of victims, not other priests.

Even after the pope met the four victims, prominent support group Broken Rites said it was concerned that they had been hand-picked from those who accepted the church's response to their complaints.

"I'm afraid that what they've done is selected victims who have agreed with what the church's policies are," said spokeswoman Chris MacIsaac.

She said the pope should have met with Anthony Foster, the father of two abused girls, who cut short a holiday in Britain to return to Australia in the hope of meeting the pontiff.

"They have to meet with the people who do not accept the way they have approached this issue in the past," she told AFP. "Victims who feel disfranchised from the church are again left out in the cold.

Foster told AFP the pope's failure to meet him or to inform activists of the meeting showed a "lack of compassion".

Foster's daughter Emma committed suicide this year aged 26, after struggling for years to deal with abuse by a priest at primary school. Her sister Katie was left brain-damaged after being hit by a car while drunk.

In a statement, the Archdiocese of Sydney said the four victims who met the pope had been picked by the church's professional standards office for New South Wales state, the local church body dealing with complaints of abuse.

The archdiocese, headed by Australia's top Catholic cleric Cardinal George Pell, welcomed the meeting.

"We are delighted that the Holy Father was able to spend time with victims of sexual abuse before his departure today," it said.

"The Holy Father's meeting with victims reflects the continuing commitment of the whole church in Australia to bring healing and justice to those who have been so terribly hurt by sexual abuse."

As the pope left, an estimated 125,000 pilgrims from around the world were also due to depart Sydney, after transforming one of the gay capitals of the world into a city teeming with hymn-singing Christians for a week.

World Youth Day was launched in 1986 by the late pope John Paul II to help stem the flow of young Catholics away from the once-dominant church in an age of growing secularism in the western world.

- AFP/yb