Pope Francis on Monday admitted that
Catholic Church hierarchies shielded the crimes of paedophile priests. The
Pontiff stated this hours after meeting people who were abused in their youth
by members of the clergy.
“And those who have covered up these things are also guilty,
even some bishops have covered up, it is a very bad thing,’’ the pontiff
stressed.
He made these statements while speaking to reporters on the
return flight from Philadelphia to Rome, at the end of his pilgrimage to Cuba
and the United States. Pope Francis said abusing children was “almost a
sacrilege’’ and a betrayal of the call of God for a priest.
On Sunday, the leader of the world’s 1.2 billion Catholics spent
about 30 minutes with three women and two men who were sexually abused by
clergy members.
“I promise that all those responsible for the sexual abuse of
children will be punished,’’ Francis later told a gathering of bishops, saying
he felt “deep shame’’ about the acts.
The pope told the audience that “these crimes can no longer be
kept secret,’’ and said that “God weeps’’ because of what happened.
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