‘Don’t Judge Us By Modern Standards’, Says Pope Francis On Child Sexual Abuse By Christian Priests

Embarrassed by questions over the increasing sexual abuse allegations on Catholic priests, Pope Francis has said that the Catholic Church should not be judged by modern standards, reports Daily Mail.

Refusing to answer questions about a report that revealed sexual abuse of 3,700 children by priests in Germany, the Pope’s spokesperson initially said that the Pope would take questions only on his trip to the Baltics.

He said that the society’s sensitivity towards issues like sexual abuse has changed with time and hence modern standards cannot be applied to the Church.

"In olden times, these things were covered up, they were even covered up in homes, when an uncle raped a niece, when a father raped his children,” he said.

"It was covered up because it was an enormous shame. That was the mentality in the last century,” he further added.

When an Austrian journalist ask about the shocking abuse in Germany he was denied response and shut down.

Among the Vatican’s archbishops, one Georg Gaenswein had earlier observed that the scandals, "and recent revelations in the Pennsylvania grand jury report", showed "how many souls have been wounded irrevocably and mortally by priests from the Catholic Church," and termed these events as the Church’s own 9/11.