Pope Francis: One in 50 priests are paedophiles

Pope Francis has released details of Vatican research into clerical sex abuse saying that offenders include priests, bishops, and cardinals.

16:00 14 July 2014

Pope Francis, who described child sex abusers as a form of “leprosy” within the church, has revealed that based on Vatican research on clerical sex abuse, one in 50 priests are paedophiles. He added that offenders include “priests and even bishops and cardinals.”

A newspaper in Italy called La Repubblica states that the Pontiff cited aides as claiming that “the level of paedophilia in the church is at 2per cent.”

"I find this state of affairs intolerable," he said.

This means that more than 8,000 priests fall into the category. However, estimates of the prevalence of paedophilia in the wider population range from 1per cent to as high as 4per cent.

In Ireland, there are about 5,000 priests. On the basis of 2per cent of the clergy, the suggested number of paedophilic priests would be less than 100.

Meanwhile, Ian Elliott, the former head of the National Board for Safeguarding Children in the Catholic Church in Ireland, said that further details need to be released.

“Anyone who makes a statement about the incidence of abuse or the number of offenders in an institution should also make available the evidence that they have based the statement upon, if they wish it to be taken seriously," said Mr Elliott.

He added: "Perhaps a better starting point would be asking the heads of all of the 188 church authorities in Ireland if they are confident that they are personally aware of the known incidence of abuse that has been perpetrated by their members. If they are, would they be willing to share this?"