Pope Leo tells Catholic bishops not to hide abuse allegations

By Joshua McElwee

VATICAN CITY (Reuters) -Pope Leo has instructed the Catholic Church's newest bishops to confront sexual abuse by priests and not to hide allegations of misconduct, in a text released by the Vatican on Friday.

Sexual abuse scandals have afflicted the Church in various places around the world in recent decades, damaging its standing as a moral voice, sparking costly lawsuits, and resulting in the resignations of several prominent bishops.

"(Allegations) cannot be put in a drawer," the pope said in a closed-door meeting the day before with some 200 bishops appointed to lead Catholic dioceses across the world in the past year, according to a Vatican summary of the event.

"They must be faced, with a sense of mercy and true justice, toward the victims and toward the accused," Leo said in the text.

Leo, elected in May after the death of Pope Francis, has previously told priests to be "firm and decisive" in confronting sexual abuse.

Francis, who led the 1.4-billion-member Church for 12 years, made confronting sexual abuse by priests a key priority of his tenure, with mixed results.

Leo also appeared to show support for some of Francis' other priorities in the meeting with new bishops, encouraging them to create a Church welcoming to all people, as the late pope often called for.

Leo told the clerics they should "renew their contact with the world in order to answer the questions the men and women of our time are asking," according to the summary.

"Ready-made answers learned 25 years ago in the seminary are not enough," the pope said.

(Reporting by Joshua McElweeEditing by Alvise Armellini and Gareth Jones)

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