VATICAN CITY
euronews

By Philip Pullella

VATICAN CITY (Reuters) – Pope Francis asked for forgiveness on Wednesday for scandals at the Vatican and in Rome, an apparent reference to two cases of priests and gay sex revealed this month during a major meeting of bishops.

“Today … in the name of the Church, I ask you for forgiveness for the scandals that have occurred recently either in Rome or in the Vatican,” Francis said in unprepared remarks during his weekly general audience in St. Peter’s Square.

“I ask you for forgiveness,” he said before tens of thousands of people, who broke into applause.

The pope then read his prepared address and did not elaborate, but there have been two scandals involving the Vatican and the Church in Rome in the past two weeks.

On Oct. 3, a Polish monsignor working in the Vatican’s doctrinal office since 2003 held a…