Pope Francis has called for 'decisive action' in the fight against sex abuse of minors by priests, telling Bishop Gerhard Mueller, the head of Congregation for the Doctrine of Faith that perpetrators will -and must be- punished, BBC News reported.
It was the pope's first public statement on clerical sex abuse since being elected last month, replacing Pope Benedict, who was the first in 600 years to resign from the papacy.
Victims of sex abuse by clergy - which has been rampant in the U.S. to Europe and Australia - has called for a strong response from the new pontiff to address the crisis. The Vatican's statement underscored that the Pope had urged Bishop Mueller to 'act decisively as far as cases of sexual abuse are concerned, promoting above all, measures to protect minors, help for those who have suffered such violence in the past (and) the necessary procedures against those who are guilty.'
Pope Francis inherited a major pedophilia scandal. Two years ago, the Congregation for the Doctrine of Faith called on bishops' conferences around the world to submit guidelines for helping victims to protect children, by selecting and training priests and other Church workers. This, all the while, they collaborated with local authorities to rectify the situation.
Many remain skeptical of Pope Francis' statements, saying, 'We can't confuse words with actions,' the Survivors Network of Those Abused by Priests' Outreach Director Barbara Dorris said to BBC. "When we do, we hurt kids. We must insist on new tangible action that helps vulnerable children protect their bodies, not old pledges that help a widely-discredited institution protect its reputation."
Dr. Rebecca Rist, a papal historian at Reading University, has commented that 'Pope Francis is signaling that he regards clerical sexual abuse as the modern day scourge of the Church.'
Reports indicate that the Catholic Church in the U.S. has paid out as much as $3 billion to settle sexual abuse claims, according to Yahoo News.
