Pope receives victims of pedophile priests
Pope Francis has repeatedly announced "zero tolerance" and a willingness to impose "very severe sanctions"; he has compared any priest who abuses a child to someone who commits the worst sacrilege, "a black mass"; and he has created a commission of experts for the protection of children within the institutions of the Catholic Church.
From the Lusa News Agency - Pope Francis today (7) received, for the first time in the Vatican, six victims of pedophile priests, the Holy See announced. The group - two Germans, two Britons and two Irish - was received by the Pope at Casa Santa Marta, where Jorge Mario Bergoglio has lived since he was chosen in March 2013. The meeting was preceded by a Mass in the chapel.
Pope Francis announced the private meeting at the end of May. Victims' associations were awaiting the meeting and were surprised that it had not yet taken place. They felt that the Vatican had not done enough in the fight against pedophilia.
The Pope has repeatedly announced "zero tolerance" and a willingness to impose "very severe sanctions." Francis compared any priest who abuses a child to someone who commits the worst sacrilege, "a black mass." He created a commission of experts for the protection of children within the institutions of the Catholic Church.
The scandal, revealed in the 2000s, affected tens of thousands of children in different countries, from Ireland to the United States. The events date back to the 1960s and 1970s. The Church is accused of tolerating and sometimes protecting the criminals without listening to the victims.