Pope apologizes for sexual abuse by priests

VATICAN CITY, April 11 (UPI) -- Pope Francis apologized for sexual abuse of minors by Catholic priests Friday, promising members of the non-government organization International Catholic Child Bureau gathered at the Vatican there would be no “step backwards” in punishing identified abusers.

“I feel compelled to personally…ask for forgiveness for the damage they have done for having sexually abused children,” he said, adding he considers fighting abuse as a priority of his papacy.

The Vatican was the recipient of criticism in a report by the United Nations Committee on the Rights of the Child. The Holy See responded with a comment that the committee had not recognized its efforts to restrain pedophilia among Catholic priests.

Some observers have criticized the pope for not being as vocal about sexual predators in the Church as he has about poverty.

The Pope emphasized the Catholic Church is aware of the damage done by predators, saying, “It is personal, moral damage carried out by men of the church, and we will not take one step backwards with regard to how we deal with this problem.”

He added it is every child’s right to grow up in a family “with a father and a mother” and called for an end to “educational experiments” in the name of an imaginary “modernity.”

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