Pope Francis: “The Church started zero tolerance slowly and moved forward. And I think the direction taken on this is irreversible. It is irreversible. Today it is a subject that cannot be discussed”.
Along with these statements, in the recent interview to the Reuters agency, the Holy Father admitted that there may be some resistance in some local churches when it comes to applying measures against abuse, “but there is increasing awareness that this is the way”. “There is resistance, but with each new step there is growing awareness that this is the way to go”.
In this sense, Francis remembered the division of the Dicastery for the Doctrine of the Faith into two sections, dedicating one of them to trials for abuses, and indicated: “are going well.”
On the other hand, in the exchange, the Pope described that, although statistics indicate that only a small percentage of priests are responsible for abuse compared to crimes of this type in the general population and the majority of abuses occur in the family context, even one of them within the Church is shameful.
“We have to fight against every single case”
“We have to fight against every single case,” he said. “As a priest, I have to help people grow and save them. If I abuse, I kill them. This is terrible. Zero tolerance,” he said.
In 2014, a year after his election, Francis established the Pontifical Commission for the Protection of Minors to promote best practices and a culture of safeguarding in Catholic communities worldwide. Regarding this, during the interview, the Bishop of Rome stated: “I totally support the commission.”
Francis appeared to go out of his way to praise its president, Cardinal Sean O’Malley of Boston, and its secretary, British priest Andrew Small, as “courageous” men.
