Pope Francis met for the first time on Monday with six victims of pedophile clergy sex abuse. During the meeting, he expressed „sorrow“ for the „sins and grave crimes“ of clerical sex abuse and begged forgiveness.

He also promised that the church would „make reparations.“

The six victims who met with Pope Francis were all Europeans, two each from Britain, Ireland and Germany.

Vatican spokesman Rev. Federico Lombardi said the victims met with Francis Sunday night and later joined him for a private Mass Monday morning.

After the Mass, he met with each victim privately in his apartment for about half an hour where he spoke to them about their individual experiences.

Although the victims who met with the pope had earlier refused to speak with reporters and the Vatican did not release their names, one of them has been identified as Marie Kane, 43, from Ireland.

Addressing the victims, Francis said that clergy sex abuse was „something more than despicable actions. It is like a sacrilegious cult.“

He pledged that the church would no longer „tolerate harm done to a minor by any individual, whether a cleric or not.“

He vowed that bishops „will be held accountable“ for their misdeeds.

Francis acknowledged that failure of the church leadership to respond adequately to reports of clerical sex abuses „led to even greater suffering on the part of those who were abused and it endangered other minors who were at risk.“

The apology to victims of clergy sex abuse comes after the United Nations issued an unsparing condemnation of the Vatican for not responding adequately to the reports of clergy sexual abuse.

Although one of the victims who met with the pope, Marie Kane, told Irish Radio RTE that she thought the pope was sincere, advocacy groups and activists said the pope has not done enough to address the problem of clergy sex abuse.

A German activist, Norbert Denef, described the meeting as „nothing more than a public relations effort.“ Weiter lesen…