Vatican City – the Pope of the Roman Catholic Church, Pope Francis feels “Ashamed” to find child sexual abuse cases inside the Holy Place (Church) in France. He further acknowledges the failures to put the victims’ needs first – on Oct 6, Wednesday.
Pope Francis communicated with his regular audience about the recent report revealing the child abuse cases that involved 330,000 French children sexually abused by Clergy and other officials in the church. The figure estimates the number of abuse cases from 1950 to date.
Francis said, “There is, unfortunately, a considerable number. I would like to express to the victims my sadness and pain for the trauma that they suffered,’ and added, “It is also my shame, our shame, for the incapacity of the church for too long to put them at the center of its concerns.”
He took bishops and other religious superiors on board to take the necessary actions on the ongoing matter, “so similar dramas are not repeated.”
The Pope extended his “closeness and paternal support” to the French Priest in the phase of a “difficult test,” and communicated with the French Catholics in order to “ensure that the church remains a safe house for all.”
As per the report, the 3,000 figures include French priests and other locals involved in the sexual abuse that took place in the Catholic Church, making it France’s first such case of the global phenomenon.
Like other countries, France has to face the dark truth that has been hidden for a long time.
Jean-Marc Sauvé, the chairperson of the independent commission that published the findings, highlighted this Tuesday that the church authorities had been hiding the abuse in a “systematic manner.”
The news came out in the form of a 2500 page document that has been long-awaited, including the French Catholic bishops’ head asking for forgiveness.
The report revealed, out of 330,000 victims, 216,000 were abused by the church priests while the rest of the count were abused by church figures, including Camp counselors and Scout leaders.
The figures and the information is validated by France’s National Institute of Health and Medical Research.
The commission forced the church to take measures while calling out its “faults” and “silence”.
It is also demanded from the Catholic Church to compensate the sufferers, especially the cases that are now too old to take to the French court.
On Tuesday, when the reports were received publicly, Matteo Bruni, the Vatican’s spokesperson, said Pope Francis, found the news “with sorrow” and added, “His thoughts go in the first place to the victims, with a profound sadness for their wounds and gratitude for their courage to speak out.”
