Author wants Pope arrested for 'crimes against humanity'

Controversial atheist author Richard Dawkins is reportedly planning to arrest the Pope for shielding pedophile priests.

Professor Dawkins, the British evolutionary biologist who wrote The God Delusion, has assembled lawyers in an attempt to have Pope Benedict XVI charged with crimes against humanity, the Times Online reports.

Dawkins and fellow anti-religion campaigner Christopher Hitchens are believed to be exploring the option of having the Pope arrested under the same legal principal that saw Chilean dictator Augusto Pinochet arrested during a British visit in 1998.

"This is a man whose first instinct when his priests are caught with their pants down is to cover up the scandal and damn the young victims to silence," the report quoted Professor Dawkins as saying.

Pope Benedict has come under fresh criticism as new allegations of cover-ups by the Roman Catholic Church have emerged over recent months.

The 256th Pope, who Professor Dawkins reportedly argues does not receive diplomatic immunity, has said the church is currently facing its "most turbulent times".