Pope re: sex abuse victims; investigates Cardinal Bertone

ABOARD THE PAPAL FLIGHT FROM TEL AVIV (CNS) – Pope Francis will meet with a group of sex abuse victims for the first time in June, he told reporters May 26.

During a wide-ranging inflight news conference on his return to Rome from the Holy Land, the pope also confirmed reports the Vatican is investigating charges its former secretary of state, Cardinal Tarcisio Bertone, misappropriated 15 million euro from the Vatican bank. He also announced plans to visit the Philippines and Sri Lanka in January.

The pope described the abuse of children by priests as “such an ugly crime” and a “very grave problem,” the betrayal of a priest’s duty to lead young people to holiness, comparable to performance of a Black Mass.

“We must move ahead, ahead, zero tolerance,” he said.

As an indication of how seriously he takes the problem, the pope said he would meet soon with a group of six to eight sex abuse victims from various countries, including Germany, the U.K. and Ireland. He also will celebrate a private Mass with the group in the Vatican guesthouse, where he lives. Cardinal Sean P. O’Malley of Boston, a member of the recently established Vatican commission on child protection, will be at the gathering, the pope said.

The Vatican spokesman, Jesuit Father Federico Lombardi, told reporters the next day that the exact date for the meeting had not been set but that it would be soon.

Pope Francis is not known ever to have met with a group of sex abuse victims, something Pope Benedict did several times in various countries. Marie Collins, a sex abuse survivor from Ireland whom the pope named to the child protection commission, met him at the Vatican in May.

Pope Francis said the church cannot have privileged “daddy’s boys,” exempt from punishment when it comes to sex abuse of minors. He revealed that three unnamed bishops are currently under investigation by the Vatican for misdeeds related to sex abuse, and another has been found guilty and is awaiting punishment. It was not clear if the bishops in question had been accused of personally abusing children or of mishandling accusations of abuse by priests.