Pope warns of fallout from poorly trained priests

VATICAN CITY
Houston Chronicle

VATICAN CITY (AP) — Pope Francis has warned that priests can become “little monsters” if they aren’t trained properly while studying as seminarians.

Francis also warned against accepting men for the priesthood who may have been implicated in sexual abuse, saying the protection of the Catholic faithful is most important.

Francis made the comments during a closed-door meeting of 120 superiors of religious orders Nov. 29 at the Vatican. On Friday, the Jesuit journal La Civilta Cattolica provided a report of the informal, question and answer session. The Vatican never provided a transcript of the meeting.

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