Pope Francis condemns child sex abuse scandal in letter to Catholics

2018-08-21 55

Pope Francis has issued a letter to Catholics around the world apologizing for the Vatican's mishandling of the child sexual abuse scandal surrounding clerics.
He acknowledged with "shame and repentance" that the church failed to act on what he called the atrocities of the clerics, adding that the Vatican abandoned the victims.
The pope's letter came less than a week after a grand jury in Pennsylvania found that, for decades, more than a thousand minors had been abused by 300 priests in the U.S. state.
However, not all are happy with the Pope's letter.
This abuse survivor from Ireland says it is not enough.

"His 2,000 words are just too much. They really have very little meaning or content. The idea that sort of like he can bring about the end of child sexual abuse for example, even within the clergy, where does he get this from?......... It's not inspirational words. We need to see what are going to be the inspirational actions, and to negotiate and sit down with survivors."

The pontiff is yet to provide details on what measures will be taken to compensate victims or punish those involved in the scandal.