Pope Francis: ‘One in 50’ Catholic priests, bishops and cardinals are paedophiles

Francis pledged to drive out the 'leprocy' of child abuse from the Church

Adam Withnall
© © Independent.co.uk

Pope Francis has revealed that “reliable data” collected by the Vatican suggests that one in every 50 members of the Catholic clergy is a paedophile.

Speaking in an interview with La Repubblica, the Pope said his advisors had tried to “reassure” him that paedophilia within the Church was “at the level of two per cent”.