VATICAN CITY
TheTablet
07 July 2014 by Hannah Roberts in Rome
Pope Francis met six victims of clerical sex abuse today to beg forgiveness for the “sacrilegious” crimes committed by the “sons and daughters of the Church who betrayed their mission, who abused innocent persons.”
The Pope told six victims of priestly abuse – two from Britain, two from Germany and two from Ireland – that the Church would “weep” for its “grave sin” and must make amends for the suffering it has caused.
“I ask for the grace to weep, the grace for the Church to weep and make reparation for her sons and daughters who betrayed their mission,” he said.
Despite his energetic and wide-ranging reforms, Francis has been accused of not taking concrete measures to show his determination to tackle the child abuse scandal. This was the first time he has met abuse victims since being elected pope 15 months ago.
But in his strongest words on the subject so far, he promised that bishops who fail to report or cover up abuse would be held accountable.
At a Mass at the Domus Sanctae Marthae, the guesthouse Francis has made his residence, he denounced the abuse of minors as “worse than despicable”. He said: “It is like a sacrilegious cult, because these boys and girls had been entrusted to the priestly charism in order to be brought to God.”
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