Pope Francis, the head of the Catholic Church, stated that the Catholic Church must have “zero tolerance” for sexual abuse by some clergy in an interview with a Portuguese television network on Sunday.
In a conversation with TVI/CNN, the Pope mentioned allegations of sexual abuse, “This is extremely obvious. There is none. A priest cannot remain a priest if he abuses people. He is either unwell or guilty, thus he is unable to do it. Because it takes lives, this is awful.”
Portugal, which has a strong Catholic past, similarly to France, has an independent commission tasked with looking into any sexual abuse within the church.
Child psychiatrist and commission head Pedro Stretch said: “Nearly 400 persons have testified so far in the independent probe of sexual abuse within the Portuguese Catholic Church. As a result, the judiciary has been tasked with handling 17 cases.”
At the end of the year, the investigation’s conclusions are anticipated to be made public.
The Pope stated in the interview, “I do not deny abuses, only one abuse would be terribly horrible.
The young Catholics’ meeting known as World Youth Day will take place in Portugal from August 1–6, 2023, the Catholic spiritual leader added.
