Pope Francis has been quoted as admitting that reliable figures show that “about 2%” of clergy in the Catholic Church are paedophiles.
The Pope as called child abuse as a “leprosy” affecting the Church and vowed to “confront it with the severity it demands” in an interview with Italian newspaper La Repubblica.
A Vatican official denied that the quotes printed by the newspaper reflected the Pope’s “exact words”, but admitted that the article reflected the broad spirit of the conversation between the Pope and editor Eugenio Scalfari.
Earlier this month, Pope Francis begged forgiveness from victims of sexual abuse by members of the clergy, but victims are angry that the Church has still not punished those responsible.
Two percent of the clergy would represent around 8,000 priests, bishops, and cardinals in the Catholic Church.
