VATICAN CITY
International Business Times

By Gianluca Mezzofiore
April 11, 2014

Pope Francis has asked for forgiveness for the priests found guilty of sex abuse in a strong address on an issue that has haunted the Roman Catholic Church for two decades.

“I feel compelled to personally take on all the evil which some priests, quite a few in number, obviously not compared to the number of all the priests, to personally ask for forgiveness for the damage they have done for having sexually abused children,” he said on Vatican Radio.

He added: “The Church is aware of this damage, it is personal, moral damage carried out by men of the Church, and we will not take one step backward with regards to how we will deal with this problem, and the sanctions that must be imposed. On the contrary, we have to be even stronger. Because you…