Pope Francis has made himself clear on his views on paedophilia. On Sunday, the Pope called for severe punishment for pedophile criminals to protect minors from abuse.
The statement was made after new details of the death of a six-year-old girl who was abused in the Italy emerged. The incident happened in 2014 when the girl was allegedly thrown from an eighth-storey balcony by her abuser, as reported by The Irish Times.
New details unveiled that Fortuna, the victim, was indeed thrown by a 43-year-old man after raping her. The police suspected that he killed her so she would not talk about what he did. The man is now imprisoned in Rome. He has also been accused of molesting other children, but has so far denied the charges.
An autopsy revealed that Fortuna has undergone chronic sexual abuse, as reported by Malta Independent. He was killed after trying to resist her molester. Investigators also suspect that neighbors knew about the prolonged abuse but did not report it to the police.
"This is a tragedy. We should not tolerate the abuse of minors," the pope said as he departed from his weekly Sunday message and blessing to people gathered in St. Peter's Square. "We must protect minors and severely punish abusers," he added.
The Catholic church itself has been facing scandals regarding sexual abuse of children in the recent years. According to The Times of India, the scandals include accusations that bishops systematically transferred pedophile priests around parishes instead of reporting to the police.
The scandal emerged in 2002 and has caused criticism around the world. Other scandals from across the globe have surfaced since then, resulting in tens of millions of dollars in compensation to victims.
The pope himself has vowed zero tolerance for abusers in the church. However, victims groups were not satisfied, saying that the pope is not doing enough to handle the cases and preventing it from happening again. Victims have been demanding that abusing bishops should be punished.
Pope Francis has formed a special commission which is tasked to advise him on the matter. The commission will counsel him on how to root out abuse in the church. However, the commission has struggled to find its stride.
