REPUBLIKA.CO.ID, ROME -- The US cardinal who heads the Vatican's commission on sexual abuse of children by clergy warned his fellow Roman Catholic bishops on Monday not to behave as if the problem had passed.

Cardinal Sean O'Malley of Boston told a conference at Rome's Pontifical Gregorian University that some prelates were still reluctant to deal with the problem openly.

"It would be perilous for us, as leaders of the Church, to consider that the scandal of clergy sexual abuse is for the most part a matter of history and not a pressing concern here and now," said O'Malley, whose commission advises Pope Francis on how to root out the abuse that has shamed the Church.

"Its not a pleasant topic. It's easier just to ignore it and hope it will go away (but) when we are defensive and secretive, the results are disastrous," he said in his speech.