Pope Francis on Priest Abuse Scandal "We Showed No Care to the Little Ones"

In a 2,000-word letter addressed to the "People of God", Pope Francis begged for forgiveness and said leaders of the Catholic Church were to blame after a grand jury report released last week revealed that more than 1,000 children had been sexually abused by more than 300 "predator priests" in Pennsylvania for decades. 

"With shame and repentance, we acknowledge as an ecclesial community that we were not where we should have been, that we did not act in a timely manner, realizing the magnitude and the gravity of the damage done to so many lives," Francis wrote in the letter which was released in seven languages on Monday.

"We showed no care for the little ones; we abandoned them." 

This is the first time a pope has written a letter addressed to all the world's more than 1.2 billion Catholics about sexual abuse. Previous letters were addressed to bishops and faithful in their individual countries. 

The letter was released ahead of a planned trip to Ireland this weekend, where the church's credibility has been damaged by its own revelations of sexual abuse perpetrated by priests there. 

The grand jury report released last week was the result of a two-year investigation into sexual abuses within the U.S. Catholic Church. It had remained under seal during pending court challenges from clergy and described abuses that date back to the 1940s. The report included internal documents from six Catholic dioceses in Pennsylvania and included allegations against more than 300 priests, some of whom have since died. 

"Priests were raping little boys and girls, and the men of God who were responsible for them not only did nothing; they hid it all," the grand jury report said. 

The letter by Pope Francis referenced the scandal in Pennsylvania, saying no effort to beg forgiveness of the victims would ever be sufficient, vowing "never again." 

Photo: Getty Images


Sponsored Content

Sponsored Content