Pope Cautions Against Child Sex Abuse

{{Pope Francis has called on the Catholic Church to “act decisively” to root out sexual abuse of children by priests and ensure the perpetrators are punished, the Vatican has said.}}

The pope asked Archbishop Gerhard Ludwig Mueller, the head of the Vatican department that deals with sexual abuse, to “act with determination” in those cases, the Vatican said in a statement on Friday.

The pontiff asked for “stepped-up measures to protect minors and help those who were subjected to such violence in the past”.

In a meeting with Mueller, Francis said that combating the abuse was important “for the Church and its credibility”, the statement said.

It was the first official word on the issue from the pope, who was elected on March 13 to succeed Benedict XVI, whose papacy was marred by relentless paedophilia scandals with tens of thousands of victims over several decades.

The statement noted that the policy followed “the line established” by Benedict XVI, who was the first pope to apologise to victims and called for zero tolerance against sexual abuse by priests.

Francis inherited a Church mired in problems and a major scandal over priestly abuse of children.

{agencies}