Pope Francis has admitted for the first time that Bishops and Priests in the Catholic Church have been sexually abusing nuns.
“There are some priests and also bishops who have done it,” the papal said on Tuesday.
This comes after an outcry from the Vatican’s Women Magazine last week, who said nuns have been forced to have abortions or raise kids not known by their fathers. The publications also said nuns have been silent on issues for decades for fear of retaliation.
“If the Church continues to close its eyes to the scandal — made even worse by the fact that abuse of women brings about procreation and is therefore at the origin of forced abortions and children who aren’t recognised by priests — the oppression of women in the Church will never change,” the publication wrote.
The Pope said the problem, while it could be found anywhere, was particularly prevalent in “some new congregations and in some regions”.
“I think it’s still going on, because it’s not something that just goes away like that. On the contrary,” he said.
He said the Church has “suspended several clerics” and the Vatican has been “working (on the issue) for a long time”.
“I don’t want to hear it said that the Church has not got this problem, because it has.
“Must we do more? Yes! Do we want to? Yes!” he said.
The “Women Church World” is a supplement distributed with the Vatican’s Osservatore Romano newspaper