Pope Francis met members of Polish NGO "Have No Fear" on Wednesday and kissed the hand of the organisation's leader and sexual abuse victim.
Marek Lisinski said he was thirteen when he was abused by a priest. Now he is the leader of a Polish NGO helping victims of clergy sex abuse.
Lisinski met the pope after his weekly general audience and said he was surprised when the pontiff kissed his hand.
Speaking to Reuters on Thursday as Vatican officials gathered for the first day of a sexual abuse conference, Lisinski said more steps need to be taken by the pope to tackle the scandal.
Lisinski also spoke about his experience, saying that trauma haunted him his entire life after being abused by a Catholic priest but that he found relief by helping other Polish victims of abuse.
Lisinski travelled to Rome to deliver Pope Francis a report about Polish bishops neglecting paedophilia cases. He hoped the report, which accuses some bishops in devoutly Catholic Poland of failing to report crimes, will trigger resignations from top positions in the Church.
The unprecedented Vatican conference on sexual abuse brings together senior bishops from around the world to discuss how best the 1.3 billion-member Church can tackle a problem that has decimated the Church's credibility.
Autor: gf / Źródło: TVN24 News in English, Reuters
Źródło zdjęcia głównego: OKO.press | Piotr Wielgus