Pope Francis says “God weeps” over child sex abuse scandal

WASHINGTON

Pope Francis met Sunday with victims of a child sex abuse scandal that has rocked the Roman Catholic Church, saying that “God weeps” for the victims before returning to Rome.

The pope met with the five victims, three women and two men who are all now adults, in Philadelphia. He told them that those responsible – clergy and Bishops who helped conceal the scandal – would be held accountable, and that he is personally “deeply sorry”.

“I pledge to you that we will follow the path of truth wherever it may lead,” he said in remarks translated from Spanish, his mother tongue.

Francis' meeting and comments were met with skepticism by David Clohessy, the director of Survivors Network for those Abused by Priests, or SNAP – the main abuse survivors’ group. He said the pope's words were merely window dressing for the wider problem of inaction by the church.

"Is a child anywhere on earth safer now that a pope, for maybe the seventh or eighth time or ninth time, has briefly chatted with abuse victims? No," Clohessy said in a statement. "A smart public relations move. That’s what this meeting is. Nothing more."

After meeting the victims, Francis held a mass for hundreds of thousands in Philadelphia to cap off his six-day visit to the U.S. before returning to Rome.

While in the U.S., the pontiff has been met with throngs of supporters at each of his public events in Washington, D.C., New York and Philadelphia.

Francis began his U.S. tour with an official state visit to the White House on Wednesday before canonizing Spanish Friar Junipero Serra during a service at the National Basilica. The Holy Father then addressed a joint session of Congress on Thursday - the first for a pope - before departing for New York where he addressed the UN General Assembly on Friday.

Following his address, the pope led a procession through Manhattan's Central Park where 80,000 had been awarded tickets via lottery, and held mass for 20,000 at Madison Square Garden.

He left New York for Philadelphia on Saturday, meeting with prisoners at the Curran-Fromhold Correctional Facility, and participating in the World Meeting of Families, a Catholic event held every three years at locations across the globe.