The church must go out and encounter young people “in detention centers, at the borders.”

“What is important now is...not concentrating on myself but helping this church to get to a new place.”

In a two page-letter, Pope Francis made clear not only his personal esteem for the cardinal but also that he stands by him, and the reasons for this.

"Is it right to hire a hit man to solve a problem? No, you can't. It's not right to take out a human being, a small one, too, in order to fix a problem. It is like hiring a professional killer," the pope said.

Pope Francis will meet with Catholic South Korean president, Moon Jae-in, this month.

At a Vatican briefing on Oct. 8, Archbishop Scicluna reminded reporters that “the synod is not about the abuse of minors, it has to deal with many other questions, too.”