• “We showed no care for the little ones; we abandoned them.”Pope Francis wrote a letter to the world’s 1.2 billion Catholics to condemn the “atrocities” of priestly sexual abuse and its cover-up. He demanded greater accountability, asking followers to “join forces in uprooting this culture of death.” Above, Francis praying at the Vatican on Sunday. His message came ahead of a scheduled trip to Ireland, where the abuse issue has dominated headlines, and just days after a searing grand jury report in the U.S. found that the church had covered up the abuse of more than 1,000 minors by some 300 priests over a period of 70 years in Pennsylvania.

Source: New York Times August 20, 2018 20:11 UTC