Scandals are turning young people away from church

Sex abuse and economic scandals involving the Church are driving younger people away, Pope Francis admitted to a gathering of young Estonians during his visit to the Balkans this week.

“We know – and you have told us – that many young people do not turn to us for anything because they don’t feel we have anything meaningful to say to them,” he told the mainly Catholic, Lutheran and Orthodox gathering.

“They are upset by sexual and economic scandals that do not meet with clear condemnation, by our unpreparedness to really appreciate the lives and sensibilities of the young, and simply by the passive role we assign them.”

Francis told the gathering that surveys commissioned by the Vatican ahead of next week’s synod of bishops (which aims to develop ways to better minister to young Catholics) have been filled with similar complaints.

Calling for the Church to be converted and answer young people’s call for change, Francis said to the young Estonians:

“When we adults refuse to acknowledge some evident reality, you tell us frankly: ‘Can’t you see this?’

“Some of you who are a bit more forthright might even say to us: ‘Don’t you see that nobody is listening to you anymore, or believes what you have to say?’”

Confirming that the church wants to respond to the criticism in an honest and transparent way, Francis added: “We ourselves need to be converted.

“We have to realise that in order to stand by your side we need to change many situations that, in the end, put you off.”

Francis’s public admission coincided with a new report into abuse and cover-ups in Germany.

The report, which was produced by the German bishops’ conference, says about 3,677 people were abused by clergy between 1946 and 2014.

Of those abused, over half were 13 or younger and nearly a third were altar boys.

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