Ending the Australian pilgrimage marked by his historic apology for the evil of pedophilia in the Catholic Church, Pope Benedict XVI met away from media eyes with the victims of sex abuse by priests before flying out of Australia on Monday.

The pontiff sovereign held prayers and discussed with four representatives of abuse victims — two men and two women — at St Mary's Cathedral, in the final hours of his 9-day visit to Australia, part of the church's global youth festival.

After the meeting, the victims did not make any comments or stated anything publicly. However, many are upset they were not informed about or included in the meeting. Victims' support groups said the encounter was stage-managed by the church, ignoring free-spoken victims because of indignations with the church's manner of handling their cases.

On Saturday, Benedict delivered a plainspoken apology for the scandal, stating he was "deeply sorry" for the victims' suffering. But victims said it was not good enough, and called for the Pope to render financial compensation and psychological help for them.

The Vatican did not give details on the one-hour meeting conversations between Benedict and the victims, but qualified it "as an expression of his ongoing pastoral concern for those who have been abused by members of the church."

"As I bid you farewell with deep gratitude in my heart, may God bless the people of Australia," the 81-year-old pope said before boarding his plane for the almost 21-hour trip to Rome.

Prime Minister Kevin Rudd, present at the airport, announced former deputy Prime Minister Tim Fischer to become Australia's first resident ambassador to the Vatican.