Cardinal Sean O’Malley said he could not explain why Francis “chose the particular words he used”. The senior cleric insisted that Francis “fully recognises the egregious failures of the church and its clergy who abused children and the devastating impact those crimes have had on survivors and their loved ones”. Francis sparked national uproar upon leaving Chile on Thursday by accusing victims of the country’s most notorious paedophile priest of having slandered another bishop by saying he knew of the abuse, but did nothing about it.

Source: Irish Independent January 20, 2018 17:15 UTC