Vatican City, Feb 24, 2019 / 04:46 am
Pope Francis Sunday outlined eight points that the Church will focus on in an "all-out battle" against the sexual abuse of minors to, he said, "turn this evil into an opportunity for purification."
"We need to recognize with humility and courage that we stand face to face with the mystery of evil, which strikes most violently against the most vulnerable, for they are an image of Jesus," Pope Francis said Feb. 24 following the Vatican summit's closing Mass in the Sala Regia.
"For this reason, the Church has now become increasingly aware of the need not only to curb the gravest cases of abuse by disciplinary measures and civil and canonical processes, but also to decisively confront the phenomenon both inside and outside the Church," he continued.
The pope's closing address for the Vatican sex abuse summit Feb. 21 - 24 was filled with statistics on the overall phenomenon of all child sexual abuse worldwide, most of which occurs within the context of the family, Francis pointed out. However, these statistics can only provide explanation of the phenomenon, but not the meaning behind the acts, the pope said.