POPE FRANCIS

Pope Francis publicly acknowledged the scandal of priests and bishops sexually abusing nuns. “It’s not that everyone does this, but there have been priests and bishops who have. And I think that it’s continuing because it’s not like once you realise it that it stops. It continues. And for some time we’ve been working on it.” The acknowledgment comes two weeks before he hosts a gathering of bishops to craft a global response to the scandal of priestly predators.