Five, Peru (AP) – Papa Leo XIV He said there should be no tolerance in the Catholic Church for any kind of abuse – sexual, spiritual or abuse of authority – and has called for “transparent processes” to create a culture of prevention throughout the church.

Leo made his first public comments on the scandal of abuse of the clergy’s sex in a written message to a Peruvian journalist who documented a particularly savage case of abuse and financial corruption in a Catholic -based Catholic movement, The Sodalitium Christianae Vitae.

The message was read aloud on Friday evening in Lima during a show of a show based on Sodalitium scandal And the work of the journalist, Paola Ugaz.

“It is urgent to root throughout the church a culture of prevention that does not tolerate any form of abuse – none of the power nor the authority, nor the abuse of conscience, spiritual or sexual abuse,” Leo said in the message. “This culture will only be authentic if it arises from active vigilance, transparent processes, and sincere hearing of those who are injured. We need journalists.”

Leo is well aware of the sodalium scandal, after he spent two decades as a missionary priest and bishop in Peru, where the group was founded in 1971. The then bishop Robert Prevost was responsible for listening to the victims of Sodalitium as Peruian-Pika-Person bishops for abuse and assisted by some financial residences.

After Pope Francis brought him to the Vatican in 2023, Prevost helped dismantle the group fully by overseeing the resignation of a powerful sodalitium bishop. Sodalitium was officially printed At the beginning of this year, immediately before Francis died.

Now as the Pope, Leo must oversee the dismantling of the soldalitium and its considerable assets. The Vatican envoy on the ground treating the work, Monsignor Jordi Bertomeu, read Leo’s message on Friday evening, appearing along with Ugaz on stage.

In the message, leo too appreciated the journalists for their courage In holding the powerful for account, the public authorities required to protect them and said a free press is a “good common that cannot be removed”.

Ugaz and a victim of sodalitium, Pedro Salinas, have faced years of criminal and civil court by sodalitium and his supporters for their investigative reporting on twisted group practices and financial behaviors, and they have Leo glorified for his treatment of the matter.

The abuse scandal is one of the rarest files facing Leo, especially given the requirements of the survivors he goes even further than Francis in applying zero tolerance for abuse in the entire church, Included for abusers whose victims were adults.

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