Pope Francis says he has taken it on himself to rid the Catholic Church of sexual abuse, telling CNN's partner channel CNN Portugal that he was "responsible that it doesn't happen anymore."
In
an exclusive, wide-ranging interview in Rome last month, the Pontiff
said the church had "zero tolerance" for abuse and said that "a priest
cannot remain a priest if he is an abuser."
The
church's response to sex abuse scandals has become one of the defining
themes of Francis' time as Pope, and he told CNN Portugal that every
case of abuse within the church "hurts" him.
Multiple
reports detailing decades of sexual abuse, systemic failures and
cover-ups across multiple countries have been released since Francis
became the leader of the world's 1.2 billion Catholics in 2013.
While he
was criticized for some of his actions -- such as when he defended a Chilean bishop
accused of covering up a sex scandal in 2018, a decision he later
described as a "grave error" -- he has since taken a firm stance on the
issues and introduced some reforms.
In 2019, he abolished Vatican secrecy rules
for cases of sexual abuse and put in place new rules that made it
mandatory for the first time for all dioceses to set up systems for
reporting abuse and cover-ups.
Two years later, he issued the most extensive revision
to Catholic Church law in four decades, insisting that bishops take
action against clerics who abuse minors and vulnerable adults. The rules
also demanded action against priests who commit fraud or attempt to
ordain women.
Addressing the topic, Francis said he didn't believe celibacy played a role in causing the abuse.
"I
don't deny the abuse. Even if it was only one [case], it is monstrous.
Because you, priest, you, nun, have to take that boy, that girl to God
and with this you destroy their lives. It's monstrous. It is destroying
lives. And then they come to you with questions. Could it be that
celibacy [is to blame]? It's not about celibacy," he said.
"This
is one thing about abuse, it is a destructive thing, humanly
diabolical," he said. "In families there is no celibacy and all that
and, sometimes, it happens. So, it is simply the monstrosity of a man or
woman of the church who is psychologically ill or evil and uses their
position for their personal satisfaction," he added.