Pope Francis today said he felt compelled to personally ask for forgiveness for the damage done by priests who sexually abused children.
“I feel compelled to personally take on all the evil which some priests, quite a few in number, obviously not compared to the number of all the priests, to personally ask for forgiveness for the damage they have done for having sexually abused children.
“The Church is aware of this damage, it is personal, moral damage carried out by men of the Church, and we will not take one step backward with regards to how we will deal with this problem, and the sanctions that must be imposed. On the contrary, we have to be even stronger. Because you cannot interfere with children...
Pope Francis was speaking to members of the International Catholic Child Bureau whom he received in audience at the Vatican.
Pope Francis also reaffirmed the right of children to grow up in a family with a father and a mother capable of creating a suitable environment for the child’s development and emotional maturity.
No pope has ever taken personal responsibility for the tens of thousands of children who were molested by priests over decades as bishops moved them from parish to parish rather than reporting them to police.
Pope John Paul II denounced priests who hurt children, saying there was no place for them in the priesthood. Pope Benedict XVI expressed sorrow and regret to victims, met them and even wept with them. But neither ever took personal responsibility for the scandal or begged forgiveness as Pope Francis did.
Last month, Francis named the initial members of a commission to advise him on best practices to combat sexual abuse in the church. Half of them are women and one, Marie Collins, was assaulted by a priest as a child.
Irishwoman Ms Collins, who became a well-known activist in the fight for victims' justice, had previously called on Pope Benedict to ask personal forgiveness for the scandal and those church leaders who put loyalty to the church ahead of the safety of children.
The Vatican has said Ms Collins and the other members will draft the statutes of the commission and will look into the legal "duties and responsibilities" of church personnel, a suggestion that they might take up the critical question of disciplining complicit bishops. Church law provides for sanctions if a bishop is negligent in carrying out his duties, but to date no bishop has been disciplined for protecting an abuser.
Though unclear, Pope Francis's comments about the "sanctions that must be imposed" could similarly be a reference to the need to make bishops accountable.
Pope Francis named the commission members after coming under fire for taking no action since the commission was announced in December. Victims' groups also have been irked that he has not met survivors and recently told a newspaper that the church had been unfairly attacked for its abuse record.