"I will not begin this address with 'the crisis' that is on everybody's lips," Schoenborn told some 500 delegates gathered at the pilgrimage site.

The cardinal had harsh words however for financial institutions that he said had taken society "hostage" and prompted the global economic crisis.

"Ultra-powerful financial institutions caused the worldwide financial crisis and took society hostage," he said, citing a text signed by German church leaders, Christian organisations and aid groups.

"They have put politics under pressure, their speculation losses have burdened future generations, and denied social responsibility," Schoenborn said.

Vienna's archbishop had been widely expected to comment on the child abuse scandals that have hit the Roman Catholic Church in Germany, Ireland, Austria and elsewhere, as well as on priest celibacy.

At the beginning of the scandal in March, Schoeborn already said the Roman Catholic Church should take a look at celibacy when considering the possible causes behind the sex abuse scandal, although his office later insisted he was not calling into question the Vatican's official stance.

On Wednesday, the bishop of Eisenstadt, Paul Ibym said priests should be allowed to marry and the church should re-think ordaining women in the wake of the widespread paedophile scandal.

"It should be left up to every priest whether he wants to live a life of voluntary celibacy or in a family," he told the Austrian daily Die Presse.