During audiences at the Vatican on Saturday, Pope Benedict XVI called divorce and abortion "grave sins" and warned that a "culture of death" may even put the lives of the elderly at risk.

The pope says divorce and abortion harm the dignity of human life, cause suffering to those involved and hurt innocent victims, such as the unborn child or the children of a divorced couple.

He told participants in a Catholic congress that "The ethical judgement of the Church on divorce and abortion is clear and well-known, they are serious offences... which violate human dignity, inflict deep injustice on human and social relations and offend God himself, guarantor of conjugal peace and origin of life."

However, he did add that there were those that have committed such "errors" and have "suffered" from wounds of the soul and sought peace.

"Divorce and abortion are choices....which sometimes develop in difficult and dramatic circumstances... and are a source of profound suffering for those who take such decisions."

He then called on the Catholic church to be merciful to those that have experienced such events.

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