Better late than never.
Pope Francis has called on Catholic Bishops worldwide to do everything in their power to protect children from sex predators in the clergy.
The text of a letter sent by the Pope to bishops and released by the Vatican sees Francis beg forgiveness for the church’s inaction in regard to slave labour, child malnutrition, lack of education and sexual abuse, including abuse by priests.
In his letter, the Pope urged Catholics to have the courage to protect the youngest members of the congregation:
“The courage to guard this joy from the new Herods of our time, who devour the innocence of our children. An innocence robbed from them by the oppression of illegal slave labour, prostitution and exploitation. An innocence shattered by wars and forced immigration, with the great loss that this entails. Thousands of our children have fallen into the hands of gangs, criminal organizations and merchants of death, who only devour and exploit their neediness.
Pope Francis said the Catholic Church has an obligation to remember “the sufferings, the experiences, and the pain of minors who were abused sexually by priests.”
He also discussed his regrets about previous cases of sexual abuse by priests, noting “the sin of what happened, the sin of failing to help, the sin of covering up, the sin of the abuse of power.”
He called on the Church to maintain a “zero tolerance” policy regarding abuse.
