SYDNEY: Pope Benedict XVI on Saturday apologised explicitly for the first time to victims of sex abuse by Catholic clergy, expressing his shame and calling for perpetrators of the "evil" to be brought to justice.

The pope strayed from his prepared speech to add a direct and full apology for sex abuse in the Australian church, using some of his strongest language yet on the scourge that has rocked the Catholic Church globally.

"Here I would like to pause to acknowledge the shame which we have all felt as a result of the sexual abuse of minors by some clergy and religious in this country," he said at a mass for Australian clergy in Sydney.

"Indeed I am deeply sorry for the pain and suffering the victims have endured and I assure them that, as their pastor, I too share in their suffering," he told the bishops, seminarians and novices.

He called for compensation for the victims of priestly sexual abuse and ordered Australian clergy to help victims recover from their ordeals and for those responsible for the abuse to face the law.

"Victims should receive compassion and care, and those responsible for these evils must be brought to justice," he said in Sydney's St Mary's Cathedral.