UNITED KINGDOM
Daily Mail

UK sex abuse victim assaulted by paedophile priests describes ‘life-changing’ private meeting with the Pope who begged his forgiveness

The first British victim of clerical sex abuse to meet Pope Francis has described the experience as ‘life-changing.’

Peter Saunders, 57, who was abused for more than five years by two priests, a teacher and a member of his family from the age of 8, said the visit to the Vatican was ‘very very emotional.’

Francis met six abuse victims including two Britons and two Irish people on Monday in a series of ‘intense’ discussions that lasted more than three hours during which he begged for forgiveness for the ‘sacrilegious’ crimes committed by the ‘sons and daughters of the church, who betrayed their mission.’

The Pope has previously been accused of not doing enough to tackle the abuse crisis.

But he used the encounter to condemn…