Pope Francis said on Friday that he is taking responsibility for the child abuse scandals and at the same time asked for forgiveness over Catholic priests' actions.
While speaking before the nonprofit International Catholic Child Bureau, the pope said, "the church is aware of this damage," reports The New York Times. "It is personal moral damage, carried out by men of the church, and we will not take one step backward regarding how we will deal with this problem."
According to CNN, Francis added that he felt "compelled to personally take on all the evil" and he wanted to "personally ask for forgiveness for the damage they have done for having sexually abused children."
He added that "sanctions" must be imposed upon the priests involved in sexually abusing children. He did not, however, mention any specific action. At best the church will defrock a priest, but little else tends to happen.
Survivors Network of those Abused by Priests outreach director Barbara Dorris noted that while it was nice to hear the pope talk of action, but at the same time "that is all it is: talk."
Not helping to convince those skeptical of any action by the Vatican, is that Bishop Robert W. Finn of Kansas City has not been punished or faced sanctions since being found guilty of not reporting a pedophile priest.