“To generalize, to look at a whole category of people is never legitimate,” said Archbishop Charles Scicluna, one of the Vatican’s point man in the fight against sex abuse. Homosexuality and heterosexuality are “human conditions,” he said, adding, “they are not something that predisposes to sin.”

“I make a heartfelt appeal for an all-out battle against the abuse of minors both sexually and in other areas, on the part of all authorities and individuals, for we are dealing with abominable crimes that must be erased from the face of the earth,” the pope said.

“The faithful do not forgive the lack of transparency because it is a new assault on the victims,” Valentina Alazraki, a Mexican television reporter, told the 190 church leaders attending the Vatican summit on the protection of minors.

“It is not transparency which damages the church, but rather the acts of abuse committed, the lack of transparency or the ensuing cover-up.”

Acknowledging that the church is currently “in a state of crisis and shame,” Sister Veronica Openibo urged church leaders to “acknowledge that our mediocrity, hypocrisy and complacency have brought us to this disgraceful and scandalous place we find ourselves as a church.”

Lay oversight of Catholic bishops is needed—but it should be a process that respects the principle of apostolic succession while providing a check on the successors of the apostles.