VATICAN CITY (CNS): Pope Francis acknowledged the shame and frustration felt by priests who are discouraged by the actions of fellow clergy members who betrayed the trust of their flock through sexual abuse and abuse of conscience and power.
 
In a letter addressed to priests around the world on August 4, the pope said that many priests have spoken or written to him expressing “their outrage at what happened” and the doubts and fears the sexual abuse crisis has caused.
 

VATICAN (CNS): “When thinking about what action is required first and foremost, it is rather obvious that we do not need another Church of our own design. Rather, what is required first and foremost is the renewal of the faith in the reality of Jesus Christ given to us in the Blessed Sacrament,” Emeritus Pope Benedict XVI wrote in an article outlining his thoughts on the clerical sexual abuse crisis and what must be done now. Pope Francis and Cardinal Pietro Parolin, Vatican secretary of state, were contacted before the release of the article.