An Italian newspaper has reportedly quoted Pope Francis has saying thousands of catholic priests are peadophiles, describing the act as a “leprosy.”
The Italian paper ran the headline “Pope says: Like Jesus, I shall use a stick against paedophile priests.” after it interviewed the Pope.
The 77-year-old was quoted as warning the figures could be even higher because some abuse victims had stayed silent through corruption of fear.
A Vatican spokesman said the quotes did not mirror exactly what the Pope said.
Father Federico Lombardi denied that the Pope had said there were cardinals who were paedophiles.
The figures the Pope allegedly referred to would represent 8,000 priests out of a global number of around 414,000 being paedophiles.
The reports come after the Pope met victims of the clerical paedophile scandal during a private mass at the Vatican.
He met six abuse survivors last Monday July 7 who were British, Irish and German and apologised for “the sins of omission on the part of Church leaders”.
He said: “Before God and his people I express my sorrow for the sins and grave crimes of clerical sexual abuse committed against you.
“And I humbly ask forgiveness.”