Pope Francis met with victims of clerical sexual abuse in Portugal and criticized members of the country’s Catholic hierarchy for their response to the scandal, reports Breaking News.
Francis plunged into a crisis that plunged the Portuguese Church on the first day of a five-day visit to Lisbon to celebrate the Catholic Church’s World Youth Day.
His journey comes at a delicate time for the Portuguese church; An expert panel appointed by Portugal’s bishops reported in February that priests and other church workers had abused at least 4,815 boys and girls since the 1950s.
The Vatican said Francis met with 13 torture victims at the Vatican embassy for more than an hour and described the pope’s role during the meeting as “intensive listening,” reports Breaking News.
The expected meeting was intended to help the Portuguese hierarchy and the faithful come to terms with the Church’s legacy of abuse and cover-up after many other European countries had gone through similar reckonings.
Speaking in his native Spanish, Francis acknowledged that many priests and nuns in countries where Catholic parishes once flourished feel tired of their vocations as the faithful are increasingly alienated from their faith.
“It is often accentuated by the disappointment and anger with which some people view the church, at times due to our poor witness and the scandals that have marred her face and call us to a humble and ongoing purification, starting with the anguished cry of the victims, who must always be accepted and listened to,” he said, reports Breaking News.
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