ABOARD THE PAPAL PLANE (AP) - Pope Francis announced Monday he would meet soon with a group of sex abuse victims at the Vatican and declared "zero tolerance" for any member of the clergy who would violate a child.
Francis also revealed that three bishops are currently under investigation by the Vatican for abuse-related reasons, though it wasn't clear if they were accused of committing abuse itself or of having covered it up.
"There are no privileges," he told reporters en route back to Rome from Jerusalem.
The meeting with a half-dozen victims will mark the first such encounter for the pope, who has been criticized by victims for not expressing personal solidarity with them when he has reached out to other people who suffer.
Francis said the meeting and a Mass at the Vatican hotel where he lives would take place early next month. A statement from the office of Boston Cardinal Sean O'Malley, who is organizing the encounter, said the date and details hadn't been finalized but that the meeting was expected to take place "in the coming months."
"On this issue we must go forward, forward. Zero tolerance," Francis said, calling abuse of children an "ugly" crime that betrays God.
Francis spoke to reporters for nearly an hour after his grueling, three-day trip to Jordan, the West Bank and Israel, taking all 11 questions posed and responding with candor and occasional humor.
He said he would travel to Sri Lanka for two days and the Philippines in January 2015. And he suggested that he might follow in emeritus Pope Benedict XVI's footsteps and retire if he no longer had the strength to do the job.
"We need to look at him as an institution: he opened a door, the door of emeritus popes," Francis said. "Only God knows if there will be others, but the door is open."
Francis sought to lower expectations about his planned encounter in the Vatican next month with the Israeli and Palestinian presidents, which he announced during the trip. He stressed that they were coming to pray together.
Francis also revealed that three bishops are currently under investigation by the Vatican for abuse-related reasons, though it wasn't clear if they were accused of committing abuse itself or of having covered it up.
"There are no privileges," he told reporters en route back to Rome from Jerusalem.
The meeting with a half-dozen victims will mark the first such encounter for the pope, who has been criticized by victims for not expressing personal solidarity with them when he has reached out to other people who suffer.
Francis said the meeting and a Mass at the Vatican hotel where he lives would take place early next month. A statement from the office of Boston Cardinal Sean O'Malley, who is organizing the encounter, said the date and details hadn't been finalized but that the meeting was expected to take place "in the coming months."
"On this issue we must go forward, forward. Zero tolerance," Francis said, calling abuse of children an "ugly" crime that betrays God.
Francis spoke to reporters for nearly an hour after his grueling, three-day trip to Jordan, the West Bank and Israel, taking all 11 questions posed and responding with candor and occasional humor.
He said he would travel to Sri Lanka for two days and the Philippines in January 2015. And he suggested that he might follow in emeritus Pope Benedict XVI's footsteps and retire if he no longer had the strength to do the job.
"We need to look at him as an institution: he opened a door, the door of emeritus popes," Francis said. "Only God knows if there will be others, but the door is open."
Francis sought to lower expectations about his planned encounter in the Vatican next month with the Israeli and Palestinian presidents, which he announced during the trip. He stressed that they were coming to pray together.