VATICAN CITY
New York Times
By JIM YARDLEY
JULY 7, 2014
VATICAN CITY — Pope Francis held his first meeting with victims of clerical sex abuse on Monday, leading them at a private Mass at a small Vatican chapel where he asked for forgiveness and described the abuse as a “grave sin,” even as some critics criticized the meeting as a publicity stunt.
“Before God and his people, I express my sorrow for the sins and grave crimes of clerical sexual abuse committed against you,” Francis said during his homily at the Mass, according to a text released by the Vatican. “And I humbly ask forgiveness. I beg your forgiveness, too, for the sins of omission on the part of church leaders who did not respond adequately to reports of abuse made by family members, as well as by abuse victims themselves.”
Francis met with six victims — two each from Ireland, the United Kingdom and Germany — and first greeted them when they arrived at a Vatican guesthouse on Sunday. They reconvened on Monday morning for Mass and then ate breakfast together before the pope held individual meetings with the victims that, in total, lasted more than three hours.
In his homily, Francis vowed “not to tolerate harm done to a minor by any individual, whether a cleric or not,” and declared that bishops would be held accountable for protecting minors. He said the abuse scandals had had “a toxic effect on faith and hope in God.”
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