VATICAN CITY
Sky News
Pope Francis has condemned child sex abuse as a “leprosy” and believes one in 50 people in the Church is involved in paedophilia.
In an interview with Italy’s La Repubblica newspaper, he also promised “solutions” to the issue of priestly celibacy and raised the possibility the Catholic Church may eventually lift its ban on married priests.
The Pope, who has previously said he would show zero tolerance for clergy who abused children, cited his aides as saying that “the level of paedophilia in the Church is at 2%”.
“That 2% includes priests and even bishops and cardinals,” he said.
Asked whether priests might one day be allowed to marry, Francis pointed out that celibacy was instituted “900 years after Our Lord’s death” and that clerics can marry in some Eastern Churches under Vatican tutelage.
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