Two Italian men who say they were sexually abused by priests have completed a more than 550-kilometer protest walk to the Vatican in an unsuccessful attempt to obtain an audience with the pope.

Francesco Zanardi and Alberto Sala completed their long trek from northern Italy to Vatican City on Tuesday. They hoped to focus attention on the problem of sexual abuse by clergy in Italy, and spur an independent inquiry into the issue.

They gave a letter to a Vatican official demanding rules that require pedophile priests to be defrocked and the removal of bishops who allow abusers to stay in the ministry.

Pope Benedict has met abuse victims in several countries and has promised the Roman Catholic Church will take action to protect children and bring abusers to justice.

The pope has expressed shame and sorrow over the clerical sex scandal and has called on bishops around the world to come up with common guidelines against pedophiles by May 2012.

Reports of sexual abuse by Catholic clergy began surfacing about nine years ago in the United States and Europe. Victims' groups say the church paid little attention to decades of priests' sexual and physical abuse of children and tried to protect the guilty.

The church has paid millions of dollars to settle some of the claims of sexual abuse in the United States. Roman Catholic officials have said the church is working with the proper authorities to investigate and prevent abuse.