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[h=4]Pope vows to hold clergy accountable for sex abuse[/h]Organizers say 1 million people are expected to attend outdoor Mass with Pope Francis.
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Addressing bishops from around the world gathered in Philadelphia, Pope Francis said the stories of children sexually abuse by clergy weigh heavy on his heart and mind. He said "God weeps" over them. VPC
Pope Francis speaks to international bishops at Saint Charles Borromeo Seminary, Sept. 27, 2015 in Wynnewood, Pa.(Photo: Drew Angerer, Getty Images)
PHILADELPHIA — Pope Francis<span style="color: Red;">*</span>met privately Sunday with a group of clergy sex abuse victims and vowed<span style="color: Red;">*</span>that the<span style="color: Red;">*</span>Catholic Church would provide "careful oversight" to protect young believers in the future.
In unscripted remarks at the beginning of an<span style="color: Red;">*</span>address to bishops from around the globe, Francis said "great harm" has been<span style="color: Red;">*</span>caused by the clergy sex abuse scandal that has marred the church for more than a<span style="color: Red;">*</span>decade.<span style="color: Red;">*</span>The pontiff<span style="color: Red;">*</span>promised to hold those responsible for such offenses accountable.
"Those who have survived have become true heralds of mercy," Francis said.<span style="color: Red;">*</span>"Humbly, we owe each of them our gratitude for their courage."
"I remain overwhelmed with shame that men entrusted with the tender care of children violated these little ones and caused grievous harm," he added.<span style="color: Red;">*</span>"I am profoundly sorry. God weeps."
Francis' remarks came as he wraps up his U.S. tour, a<span style="color: Red;">*</span>historic visit that will culminate with<span style="color: Red;">*</span>an outdoor<span style="color: Red;">*</span>Mass expected to be attended by hundreds of thousands of participants<span style="color: Red;">*</span>Sunday afternoon<span style="color: Red;">*</span>in the City of Brotherly Love.
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The Vatican said Francis met with five adult victims<span style="color: Red;">*</span>—<span style="color: Red;">*</span>three women and two men<span style="color: Red;">*</span>—<span style="color: Red;">*</span>who were abused<span style="color: Red;">*</span>by clergy, family members or teachers when they were minors. Each victim<span style="color: Red;">*</span>was accompanied by a family member or another supporter.
The meeting was also attended by Cardinal Sean Patrick O'Malley, the archbishop of Boston who is overseeing a church commission focused on the protection of minors; Philadelphia Archbishop Charles Chaput, and Bishop Michael Fitzgerald, who heads the Philadelphia diocese office for protection of minors.
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"The pope spoke with visitors, listening to their stories and offering them a few words together as a group and later listening to each one individually," Vatican spokesman Federico Lombardi said in a statement. "He then prayed with them and expressed his solidarity in sharing their suffering, as well as his own pain and shame, especially in the case of injury caused them by clergy or church workers."
Allegations of sexual abuse by priests date back decades, but exploded into a crisis for the church in the U.S. more than 10 years ago following media reports<span style="color: Red;">*</span>detailing a litany of abuses and cover-ups by American<span style="color: Red;">*</span>bishops.
USA TODAY
Pope Francis in America
Bellatrix, right, has her costume adjusted by owner Ashley Spann while posing for photos for pedestrians with Addie, left, and owner Emily Mariani, right, outside the Pennsylvania Convention Center, host of the World Meeting of Families conference, Sept. 25, 2015, in Philadelphia.<span style="color: Red;">*</span> David Goldman, AP
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Francis also addressed the clergy abuse issue<span style="color: Red;">*</span>earlier in his U.S. visit, but some victims' advocates<span style="color: Red;">*</span>said that his words were not enough.
"Is a child anywhere on earth safer now that a pope, for maybe the seventh or eighth time or ninth time, has briefly chatted with abuse victims? No," said David Clohessy, director of the Survivors Network of those Abused by Priests, following Francis remarks Sunday. "A smart public relations move. That’s what this meeting is. Nothing more."
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After the speech,<span style="color: Red;">*</span>Cardinal Daniel DiNardo, archbishop of Galveston-Houston and the vice president of the<span style="color: Red;">*</span>U.S. Conference of Catholic Bishops, said the pope's remarks underscored the focus the church needs to have on the issue.
"I thought it (comment on abuse) was very good," DiNardo said.<span style="color: Red;">*</span>"A good deal of work is already going on in our church. The pope was very clear on what he sees as necessary to do. l support him."
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In his address to bishops, Francis focused on the difficulties of supporting the family structure in a rapidly changing world.
"Needless to say, our understanding, shaped by the interplay of ecclesial faith and the conjugal experience of sacramental grace, must not lead us to disregard the unprecedented changes taking place in contemporary society, with their social, cultural – and now juridical – effects on family bonds," Francis said. "These changes affect all of us, believers and non-believers alike. Christians are not 'immune' to the changes of their times."
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Later, Francis visited the Curran-Fromhold Correctional Facility, where he met with dozens of inmates. The pontiff offered the prisoners — who include<span style="color: Red;">*</span>suspected murders, rapists and mobsters — words of hope and spoke to them about forgiveness and redemption.
Francis told the inmates that scripture says<span style="color: Red;">*</span>Jesus washed his apostles’ feet at the Last Supper. In the past, the pope has repeated that<span style="color: Red;">*</span>ritual<span style="color: Red;">*</span>—<span style="color: Red;">*</span>washing<span style="color: Red;">*</span>the feet of elderly people with disabilities as well young people at a juvenile detention center.
In his remarks at the prison, Francis told the the inmates that they were not alone, intoning that "all of us have something we need to be cleansed of, or purified from."
"The lord goes in search of us,<span style="color: Red;">*</span>to all of us he stretches out a helping hand," said Francis, who shook hands with each inmate and offered several blessings. "It is painful when we see prison systems which are not concerned to care for wounds, to soothe pain, to offer new possibilities. It is painful when we see people who think that only others need to be cleansed, purified, and do not recognize that their weariness, pain and wounds are also the weariness, pain and wounds of society."
The pope's historic U.S. visit winds down<span style="color: Red;">*</span>in the late afternoon, when he celebrates Mass on the Benjamin Franklin Parkway. He is scheduled to depart for the Vatican on Sunday evening.
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