Post date: May 05, 2013 4:51:56 PM
Pope Francis leads mass in St. Peter's Square packed with thousands of pilgrims from around the world and prays for child victims of abuse.
VATICAN (MAY 5, 2013) (CTV) - Pope Francis celebrated mass in St. Peter's Square on Sunday (May 5) for the members of confraternities from around the world, many of them were present in the piazza, despite the weather.
Pope Francis seemed amazed that so many people were present, Italian media estimated the crowd to be around 60,000 faithful.
"Dear brothers and sisters, you were very courageous to come with this rain. May the Lord bless you so much," said the Pope at the start of his homily."I am happy to celebrate this Eucharist dedicated in a special way to confraternities: a traditional reality in the Church, which in recent times has experienced renewal and rediscovery" Pope Francis added.
Confraternities are voluntary associations of the faithful and many are affiliated to the Roman Catholic church.
During his prayers, Pope Francis asked for victims of abuse, especially children to be defended and protected.
"A special greeting goes today to the 'Meter' Association (an Italian non-governmental organisation dedicated to the fight against child abuse) on the day of child victims of violence. And this gives me the opportunity to turn my thoughts to those who have suffered and are suffering because of abuse," said the Pope
"I would like to assure them that are present in my prayers, but I would also say emphatically that we must all commit ourselves clearly and courageously to every human person, especially children, who are among the most vulnerable, that they are always defended and protected," he added.
Francis inherited a Church mired in problems and a major scandal over priestly abuse of children.
The Catholic Church's crisis began in Boston in 2002 when media began reporting how cases of abuse were systematically covered up and abusive priests shuttled from parish to parish instead of being defrocked and handed over to civil authorities.
Since then, the Catholic Church in many countries has set up new guidelines to deal with cases of past abuse, prevent new cases, report abuse to police, and stop potential abusers from entering the priesthood in the first place.
Despite the bad weather, the Pope made a lengthy tour of the square before heading into the crowd to personally greet some disabled pilgrims.