Radio New Zealand
The Pope says he will meet a group of sex abuse victims in June after comparing the “ugly crime” to performing “a satanic Mass”.
Speaking after his three-day tour of the Middle East on Monday, Pope Francis said he would show zero tolerance for anyone in the Roman Catholic Church who abuses children.
“Sexual abuse is such an ugly crime … because a priest who does this betrays the body of the Lord,” he said.
The 77-year-old spoke to journalists for nearly an hour on his flight to Rome, the BBC reports, but it was not clear if the zero tolerance policy would extend to bishops accused of turning a blind eye to abuse by priests in their dioceses.
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