VATICAN CITY — Catholic religious orders from around the world apologized Tuesday for having failed to respond when their priests raped children, acknowledging that their family-like communities blinded them to sexual abuse and led to misplaced loyalties, denial and coverups. The two umbrella organizations representing the world’s religious orders issued a joint statement ahead of Pope Francis’ sex abuse prevention summit, which opens Thursday. They vowed to implement accountability measures going forward to ensure that coverups by religious superiors end and that children are always safe in the presence of clergy. The Union of Superiors General represents the leadership of male religious orders, which count around 133,000 priests globally. They will each send around a dozen representatives to the Vatican sex abuse summit.

Source: National Post February 19, 2019 12:51 UTC