Vatican: Pope regularly meets with victims of clerical abuse

Greg Burke - Wiki Image - Jan 2018 by Joseph Manzzuci

Source: Vatican News Service

The Vatican has revealed that Pope Francis meets frequently with victims of sexual abuse, both in private, with individual victims and with groups, several times a month to "listen to them and try to help them to heal their serious wounds."

Greg Burke, Director of the Holy See Press Office released a statement yesterday and answered questions from journalists about conversations Pope Francis reportedly had with his Jesuit brothers during his apostolic journey to Peru, during which he revealed he engaged in regular meetings with clerical sex abouse victims.

Burke said: "Pope Francis listens to the victims and tries to help them heal the grave wounds created by the abuse they have undergone. The meetings take place in total respect for the victims and their suffering."

Speaking to Jesuits during a meeting in Lima, the Pope said that clerical sex abuse is "the greatest humiliation to the Church."

He noted that some members of the Church point out that the highest number of pedophiles are to be found within the family and that the percentage among Catholic priests is only 1.6%.

"But this is terrible" the Pope said, "Even if it were only one of our brothers! Because he has been ordained to bring hoilidness to the young and to the not-so-young and he has detroyed them. This is horrible. We must listen to what an abuse victim has to say!"