Pope Francis says he has taken personal responsibility to rid the Church of sexual abuse. He told CNN Portugal that he was “responsible that it doesn’t happen anymore.” In an interview in Rome, the Pontiff said the Church had “zero tolerance” for abuse, while “a priest cannot remain a priest if he is an abuser.” Francis told CNN Portugal every case of abuse “hurts” him. This, despite criticism that Francis has been insufficiently firm in some cases.
The Pope has been criticised, for instance, for defending a bishop in Chile accused of covering up a sex scandal in 2018, something he later described as a “grave error”. That said, the Pope abolished Vatican secrecy rules for cases of abuse, and put in place new rules which made it mandatory for all dioceses to set up systems for reporting abuse and cover-ups. This effectively allows the Church to share documents and information with civil authorities, having already shared files with authorities in some countries, like the US.
