VATICAN CITY
Metro (UK)
Charles White
Sunday 26 Feb 2017
Pope Francis has reduced punishments for paedophile priests who abused children as young as 12.
The leader of the world’s biggest faith wants to apply his vision of a ‘merciful’ church and has changed the punishments for a handful of priests.
Italian priest Mauro Inzoli had been sentenced to be ‘defrocked’ (removed from the priesthood) in 2012, but Pope Francis reversed the decision in, telling him instead to stop public ministry and do penance and pray for the rest of his life.
The Inzoli case is said to be one of several similar cases when harsher sentences had been recommended by the Pope’s own advisory council on this issue, the Vatican Congregation for the Doctrine of the Faith.
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