Pope Francis ‘ashamed’ over French abuse scandal

“I wish to express to the victims my sadness and pain for the trauma they have suffered. And also my shame, our shame, my shame for the inability of the Church for too long to put them at the centre of its concerns,” the pontiff said in his general audience.

Pope Francis on Wednesday expressed his "shame" at the sexual abuse of children by French Catholic clergy, laid bare in a devastating report this week.

Pope Francis listens to speeches during his weekly general audience in the Pope Paul VI hall at the Vatican  (AP / File Photo)

“I wish to express to the victims my sadness and pain for the trauma they have suffered. And also my shame, our shame, my shame for the inability of the Church for too long to put them at the centre of its concerns,” the pontiff said in his general audience.