Pope expresses 'shame' at French sex abuse scandalPope Francis issued a statement through his spokesman Tuesday expressing his sorrow for the victims, but went further in a personal message delivered during his weekly general audience at the Vatican. VATICAN CITY: Pope Francis on Wednesday expressed personal shame at the sexual abuse of children by French Catholic clergy, after the scale of the problem was laid bare in a devastating report. An independent commission on Tuesday revealed that French Catholic clergy had sexually abused around 216,000 youngsters since 1950, a "massive phenomenon" that was covered up by a "veil of silence". "And also my shame, our shame, my shame for the inability of the Church for too long to put them at the centre of its concerns." Dealing with the avalanche of revelations about sexual abuse by clergy was one of the biggest challenges that Francis faced when he was elected pope in 2013.
