Pope receives video message from pedophile victims

VATICAN CITY, May 9 (UPI) -- Pope Francis has been sent a video made by victims of child sex abuse at the hands of priests, calling for sympathy and compensation.

The Italian newspaper La Repubblica reported Friday the Rete l'Abuso (Abuse Network) organization produced the video, which presents several dozen adult victims of child sex abuse. They include eight deaf and mute people who were enrolled in a school in Verona, where 25 priests abused at least 100 students from the 1950s to the 1990s.

Those in the video call on the pope for compensation, noting the statute of limitations for prosecution under Italian law has expired.

The organization's website identifies 148 priests convicted of child molestation, and a map of Italy detailing the Catholic parishes where the crimes occurred.

Pope Francis has publically apologized for the Church's complicity in concealing the crimes, and recently promised the International Catholic Child Bureau there would be no "step backwards" in fighting sex abuse and punishing guilty priests.