The Vatican has expressed “shame and sorrow” over the sexual abuse of at least 1,000 children by more than 300 Catholic priests in the US state of Pennsylvania, and has said Pope Francis is “on the side” of survivors.
“Victims should know that the pope is on their side. Those who have suffered are his priority, and the Church wants to listen to them to root out this tragic horror that destroys the lives of the innocent,” the Vatican said in a statement.
“There are two words that can express the feelings faced with these horrible crimes: shame and sorrow,” it said.
The comments came after a devastating US grand jury report was published on Tuesday that decried a systematic cover-up by the US Catholic Church.
The Vatican statement added that the church needed to learn “hard lessons from its past, and there should be accountability for both abusers and those who permitted abuse to occur”.
A grand jury in the US state of US grand jury…