The lead organizer of the Vatican's sex abuse summit has met with an Irish activist who is working to draw attention to a related issue the Vatican has tried to keep quiet: priests who father children.

Archbishop Charles Scicluna of Malta, the Vatican's longtime sex crimes investigator, met with Vincent Doyle, himself the child of a priest.

Through his advocacy group Coping International, Doyle has sought to compel Catholic leaders to acknowledge the problem of non-celibate priests getting women pregnant and the impact the church's enforced secrecy has on the women and their children.

In a statement Scicluna provided to Doyle, the archbishop said the issue needs to be addressed and the children acknowledged.

The statement, seen by The Associated Press on Wednesday, said: "Each case should be tackled and handled on its own merits; the interest of the child should be paramount."