Now,predator priests in Italy

8220;I have documented more than 130 cases of clergy paedophilia8221; since around 1999,Sergio Cavaliere said.

The lawyer,who represents the family of a child abused by a priest in Casal di Principe in southern Italy,said he compiled the list from local press and Internet reports on legal cases involving Italian clergy.

Eighty-eight of the reports cite the abusers by name.

So far,8221;not a single priest has been handed over to justice by a diocese,8221; Cavaliere said,echoing recent remarks by a prosecutor in northern Milan.

Prosecutor Pietro Forno,who has won 10 convictions of predator priests,told right-wing daily Il Giornale: 8220;In the many years that I have dealt with the issue,complaints were never lodged by a bishop or individual priests,and that is a bit strange.8221;

Pope Benedict XVI drafted a decree signed by his predecessor John Paul II in 2001 ordering bishops to report abuse cases to the Vatican and remove abusers from contact with youth.

However,the German pontiff faces allegations that as Cardinal Joseph Ratzinger,when he headed the Vatican8217;s watchdog over morals and doctrinal issues,and earlier as the archbishop of Munich,he failed to take action against predator priests.

Police arrested the Casal di Principe priest in December 2007 after catching him molesting a 12-year-old boy in a car,and he has been convicted to six years and eight months in prison,but is awaiting a final appeal ruling.

The diocese 8220;showed a complete lack of interest in the victim8217;s fate,8221; Cavaliere said.

The Italian Catholic Church,contacted by AFP,was not immediately prepared to comment on the matter.