At Easter, cardinal denounces "petty gossip" against Church

* Cardinal defends pope at start of Easter mass

* Address before Easter Mass a believed to be unprecedented

* Pope to deliver "Urbi et Orbi" address later

By Philip Pullella

VATICAN CITY, April 4 (Reuters) - A leading cardinal, addressing Pope Benedict at the start of an Easter Sunday ceremony, said the Church would not be influenced by what he called "petty gossip" about sexual abuse of children by priests.

"Holy Father, the people of God are with you and will not let themselves be influenced by the petty gossip of the moment, by the trials that sometimes assail the community of believers," said Cardinal Angelo Sodano, dean of the College of Cardinals.

The words by Sodano were believed to be the first time in recent memory that the ritual of a papal Easter Mass was changed to allow someone to address the pope at the start.

The change indicated just how much the Vatican is feeling the pressure from a growing scandal concerning sexual abuse of children by priests and reports of a possible cover-up that have inched closer to the pope himself.

Sodano, a former secretary of state, praised the pope as the "solid rock" that holds up the Church.

"The Church is with you," Sodano told the pope to the cheers of thousands of people in a rainy St Peter's Square.

The pope was due to deliver his twice-yearly "Urbi et Orbi" (to the city and the world) address at the end of the ceremony. It was not yet clear if he would address the abuse issue.

The celebrations leading up to Easter Sunday have been clouded by accusations the Church in several countries mishandled and covered up episodes of sexual abuse of children by priests, some dating back decades.

Shaken by the crisis, the Vatican has accused the media of attempting to smear the pope. Some reports have accused him of negligence in handling abuse cases in previous roles as a cardinal in his native Germany and in Rome.

The Vatican has denied any cover-up over the abuse of 200 deaf boys in the United States by Reverend Lawrence Murphy from 1950 to 1974. The New York Times reported the Vatican and Cardinal Joseph Ratzinger, now Pope Benedict, were warned about Murphy but he was not defrocked.

On Saturday, the Vatican's newspaper continued its campaign against the media for reports on alleged cover-ups of sexual abuse of children by priests, saying the pope had become the target of "despicable campaign of defamation".

It also denounced what it called a "crude campaign against the pope and Catholics". (Writing by Philip Pullella; Editing by Jon Hemming)