Vatican City, Feb 5, 2019 / 14:01 pm
Pope Francis said Tuesday he is aware that mistreatment and abuse of religious women by clerics is still a problem, and that it is something the Church is working to end.
"It's true, within the Church there have been clerics who have done this," the pope said Feb. 5. "Must something more be done? Yes. Do we have the will? Yes."
He spoke aboard the papal plane returning to Rome after a two-day trip to the United Arab Emirates, responding to a question about sexual abuse of women religious by priests, a recent subject in the women's section of the Vatican newspaper, L'Osservatore Romano.
Recent reports have suggested that abuse of women religious by clerics is more prevalent in Africa and Asia.