Pope Francis pens apology in light of rampant church sex abuse

The pontiff responds to new claims of assaults and cover-ups by Catholic clerics with a message of contrition, citing ‘the magnitude and the gravity of the damage done to so many lives.’

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When a crisis personally affects so many, so profoundly, an institutional response just won’t do.

That’s when the top executive, regardless of the organization, must speak out—in unvarnished terms.

A new report reveals the systemic concealment of rampant sex abuse of minors throughout Pennsylvania in the latest scandal—and the worst since 2002—involving sexual misconduct within the Catholic Church.

NBC reported:

Abuse complaints were kept in the church’s so-called secret archive and church officials hid incidents, neglected to discipline priests or report them to law enforcement, according to the 1,356-page report.

“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 report said.

At first, the Vatican issued a formal, rather arid response.

NBC reported:

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