Pope Francis Sounds Off on Church Abuse Scandals Pope Francis has acknowledged the Catholic Church's failure to act over sexual abuse by clerics against minors. Pope Francis, via letter from The Vatican The letter comes in wake of a Pennsylvania grand jury report detailing decades of sexual abuses by priests and cover-ups
by bishops. The report claims more than 300 "predator priests" have been credibly accused of sexually abusing
over 1,000 child victims. The Pope added in his letter that the church is working on a "zero tolerance" policy on abuse and coverups. He has been under increasing pressure to comment on a rapidly escalating sexual abuse crisis that has spread across several continents.