May 31, 2010: The Vatican prosecutor Monsignor Charles Scicluna has warned abusers that they risk a damnation in hell that would be worse than the death penalty.

Monsignor Scicluna, a Congregation for the Doctrine of the Faith official, led a special “make amends” prayer service in St. Peter’s Basilica, AP reports.

The service grew out of a desire by some seminarians in Rome for a day of prayers for the victims of clergy abuse and for the healing of the church’s wounds from the scandal over its concealment of abuse.

“It would be really better” for priests who sexually abuse minors that their crimes “cause them death” because for them, “damnation will be more terrible” in hell, Il Sole 24 Ore online news reported.

Participants at the ceremony asked for prayers “for the victims of abuses perpetrated by men and women of the Church, so that they can heal their wounds and experience true peace,” ANSA adds.

Prayers were also offered for clerics and other religious who committed abuses “so that, in the light of day, they can honestly face up to the consequences of their guilt and embrace the needs of justice,” it said.

Monsignor Scicluna began with a meditation from St Mark’s Gospel saying those who harm children would be better off tying a millstone to their neck and throwing themselves into the sea.

Earlier in the week, the Catholic news agency Zenit reported that several seminary students, including from Britain and the United States, decided to have the prayer service in response to Pope Benedict’s harsh letter to Irish bishops in March.