In one of his signature, informal approaches to one of the the Catholic Church's sensitive subjects, Pope Francis has met and prayed with six European victims of priests on Monday and asked for their forgiveness on behalf of the church, USA Today reported. The meeting with victims from Britain, Ireland and Germany was low key, but may have been the encounter with the most impact in their lives as they have lived beyond the incidents that have changed their lives.
According to Vatican spokesman Reverend Federico Lombardi, the guests were met by the pope briefly on Sunday night, and later joined him for a private mass on the following morning. After the mass, each one of the guest reportedly had a private moment with the pop in his private apartment for around 30 minutes of informal discussions about their individual experiences, no doubt the ones from the hands of the pedophile priests.
Although the Vatican did not release the names of the victims, the church said Pop Francis had expressed his "sorrow" for the "sins and grave crimes" the guests had been subjected to from members of the clergy.
The pope's statement read, "I beg your forgiveness, too, for the sins of omission on the part of church leaders who did not respond adequately (to reports of sex abuse)."
USA Today said Francis' predecessor, Benedict XVI, also met with sexual abuse victims while traveling since 2008 until his resignation. However, the meeting with Pope Francis was reportedly the first time done with a pontiff on the Vatican grounds.
The Vatican has since moved to address issues about sexual abuse committed by clergy members. The Catholic Church has since crafted measures to hold higher church officials accountable to sexual abuse crimes happening in their jurisdiction.
Coordinator Andrea Tornielli of the publication Vatican Insider, "The rules and laws are already in place. But the change of mentality the church needs takes more time. That is why a gesture like this (the meetings) is so important because it will contribute to changing that mentality."
