This comes after the papal itinerary released this week failed to mention an apology to sexual abuse victims.

"We are not going to be quieter as the time gets closer," Vacy man Peter Gogarty, who was repeatedly sexually abused for years by the late priest Jim Fletcher, said.

"Other victims have told me they're prepared to come out to demand an apology, if it gets to that point."

Mr Gogarty, and The Herald, have received confirmation from the Vatican's representative in Australia, Papal Nuncio Archbishop Giuseppe Lazzarotto, that a direct request for an apology and meeting with Maitland-Newcastle victims has been forwarded to the Pope in Rome.

And this week two more Australian bishops joined Maitland-Newcastle Bishop Michael Malone in supporting the apology and meeting, while a former priest who left his ministry after challenging the Vatican said it would be a "significant failure" and "a disaster in the making" if the Pope did not apologise.

"It's a worry if it doesn't happen," said Dr Paul Collins, who was a priest for 33 years until he refused to disown his book Papal Power in 1998.

"To me there's no doubt whatsoever that it would be an important part of the healing process."

Wagga Wagga Bishop Gerard Hanna said "quite a number of bishops" had listed a papal apology to victims of pedophile priests when they were asked to nominate subjects they would like the Pope to address during his World Youth Day visit.

He said the Pope had set a precedent by apologising to American victims of pedophile priests, and meeting with some victims during a visit in April.

The request for an apology was "forwarded to the Pope's secretariat".