The pope will tour Estonia, Latvia and Lithuania as they celebrate 100 years since declaring independence following World War I. Estonian saintAfter spending the weekend in Lithuania, the pope will travel on to Latvia on Monday and Estonia on Tuesday. Abuse scandalBut the Catholic Church is under increasing scrutiny because of the escalating worldwide sex abuse crisis. And in March, the Lithuanian church admitted to a sexual abuse case in the 1970s after an internal two-year investigation. In August, Pope Francis declined to comment on a claim that he ignored sexual abuse allegations against a senior clergyman in the United States.

Source: Manila Times September 20, 2018 16:52 UTC