The brother of Pope Benedict XVI has admitted that he slapped choirboys at the German choir school that he headed for 30 years, as the Vatican struggled to address burgeoning sex abuse scandals across Europe.

Georg Ratzinger, 86, who ran the choir from 1964 to 1994, said he now regretted using corporal punishment against his charges and asked their forgiveness.

The choir that he ran, the Domspatzen in Regensburg, Bavaria, has become the latest Catholic institution in Germany to be swept up in allegations of boys as young as eight being abused by priests.