The pontiff promised to get rid of predators in the Catholic Church after he read the 400-page report on sexual abuse. Cardinal McCarrick has landed at the centre of sexual scandal two years ago when a former altar boy alleged abuse.
The solid report on sexual abuse was published by the Vatican on Tuesday, the investigation has revealed the dark side of the high-ranking clerics. Taking into account the facts, Pope Francis pledged to rid the Catholic Church of sexual abuse.
Following a reading of the 400-page report on sexual abuse in Church, the pontiff offered prayers to victims of ex-cardinal Theodore McCarrick whose paedophile inclinations have set many dark spots on the Catholic Church’s reputation. The recently published detailed report showed the decades-long church cover-up of Cardinal’s sexual misconduct.
“I renew my closeness to victims of any abuse and commitment of the church to eradicate this evil,” Francis said.
Francis concluded his weekly general audience today by recalling that the report into the “painful case” of the former high-ranking American cardinal had been released the previous day.
“While we thank the Lord for the gift of national and personal freedom, what St John Paul II taught young people comes to mind,” the pope said.
In 2019, Pope Francis defrocked the 90-year-old McCarrick after a separate Vatican investigation found he sexually abused adults as well as children.
