VATICAN CITY
Reuters
Philip Pullella
VATICAN CITY (Reuters) – Pope Francis, in some of his most candid and personal comments on the sexual abuse of children by priests, said on Thursday that the Catholic Church had “arrived late” in dealing with the problem.
Francis, speaking in unscripted remarks to a commission advising him on how to root out sexual abuse, also acknowledged that early in his papacy he had made one bad call in being too lenient with an Italian priest who later went on to abuse again.
He also said he had decided to change current procedures for dealing with abusive priests by eliminating appeals trials in cases where there was definitive proof.
Francis surprised members of the commission by putting aside his entire prepared speech and chatting to them.
“There is the reality that the Church arrived at the consciousness of these crimes a bit late,” he said.
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