Pope Francis vows to end sexual abuse after McCarrick report Pope Francis is vowing to rid the Catholic Church of sexual abuse and offering prayers to victims of former Cardinal Theodore McCarrickROME -- Pope Francis pledged Wednesday to rid the Catholic Church of sexual abuse and offered prayers to victims of former Cardinal Theodore McCarrick, a day after the Vatican released a detailed report into the decadeslong church cover-up of his sexual misconduct. The Vatican report blamed a host of bishops, cardinals and popes for downplaying and dismissing mountains of evidence of McCarrick’s misconduct starting in the 1990s — but largely spared Francis. “I renew my closeness to victims of any abuse and commitment of the church to eradicate this evil,” Francis said. Francis defrocked the 90-year-old McCarrick last year after a separate Vatican investigation found he sexually abused children as well as adults. Noting that Wednesday marked Poland's independence day, Francis quoted John Paul as telling young people what it means to be truly free.

Source: ABC News November 11, 2020 10:02 UTC