The head of the Roman Catholic diocese of London, Ont., has issued a formal apology to a group of women who as children suffered sexual abuse at the hands of Father Charles Sylvestre.

In a sermon delivered Sunday at St. Ursula's Catholic Church in Chatham, Bishop Ronald Fabbro apologized to the women and their families for failing to protect them from the priest, who pleaded guilty last Thursday to 47 of 61 sex abuse charges.

Roman Catholic priest Charles Sylvestre was accused of abusing children in five parishes in the diocese of London.

After Sylvestre pleaded guilty, the diocese issued an apology in a one-page news release, but Sunday's sermon marked the first time a leader in the church has spoken publicly about the case.

The bishop repeated what was said in the release — then went further — promising to take steps to have Sylvestre defrocked. Such decisions are made only by the Vatican.

Some of Sylvestre's victims were as young as nine when the assaults took place between 1954 and 1985. All the incidents occurred in parishes throughout southwestern Ontario, including Windsor, London, Sarnia, Chatham-Kent and Pain Court.

As the bishop spoke, members of a Chicago-based group called SNAP (the Survivors Network of those Abused by Priests) gathered outside the church to press demands that the diocese be held accountable.

Sylvestre, 83, is to be sentenced on Oct. 6.