ABOARD THE PAPAL PLANE — Catholic Church hierarchies shielded the crimes of pedophile priests, Pope Francis admitted Monday, hours after meeting people who were abused in their youth by members of the clergy.
Speaking to reporters on the return flight from Philadelphia to Rome, at the end of his visit to Cuba and the United States, Francis said molesting children is “almost a sacrilege” for a priest and a betrayal of his vocation.
“And those who have covered up these things are also guilty,” the pontiff said. “Even some bishops (who) have covered (this) up. It is a very bad thing.”
The Survivors Network of those Abused by Priests (SNAP), a U.S.-based support group for victims of sexual abuse by clergy, said the pope’s admission comes “after 30 years of public scandal in the U.S. over predator priests and complicit bishops.”
“Finally a Catholic official is admitting that ‘princes of the church’ covered up heinous crimes,” SNAP President Barbara Blaine said in a statement. “But (Francis) fell short of admitting something even worse: that these cover ups continue even now.”
Insisting that words of condemnation were not enough, Blaine urged the pope to “publicly and promptly punish bishops who are protecting predators now,” and to “order bishops to do the same with their own staff and clerics who are protecting predators now.”
On Sunday, closing his U.S. trip in Philadelphia, the leader of the world’s 1.2 billion Catholics met for the second time in his papacy with survivors of clergy sex abuse, sitting down with three women and two men molested in their youth.
According to a Vatican statement, he told them: “I deeply regret that some bishops failed in their responsibility to protect children.”
In his in-flight press conference, Francis recalled being told by a woman, in another meeting with victims, that her mother “cursed God and died an atheist” after discovering what had been done to her daughter.
“I understand that woman, and God, who is more good than me, understands her,” the pope said.
“I am sure that this woman was welcomed (in heaven) by God,” he added.
The Catholic Church has been tarnished in recent years by worldwide revelations about pedophile priests, and by allegations that its hierarchy failed to punish offenders and covered up their crimes for decades.
Building on the so-called “zero tolerance” policy of his predecessor Benedict XVI, Francis tightened Vatican criminal laws against pedophilia, set up a special tribunal to try bishops who cover up such crimes and appointed an expert panel to advise further reforms.
Under his watch, a former archbishop accused of molesting young boys while serving as ambassador to the Dominican Republic was defrocked and indicted before a Vatican state court. But the defendant, Josef Wesolowski, died in August before his trial could start.
