"In this case, however, we may need to allow this fire to keep burning," Bishop Lionel Gendron of Saint-Jean-Longueuil, Quebec, said.

The apology came on the same day that Pope Francis acknowledged that the sex abuse scandal rocking the Catholic Church was driving people away.

The bishops of Pennsylvania's eight Roman Catholic dioceses are supporting creation of an independent fund to compensate survivors of clergy sexual abuse.

Maryland's attorney general is delving into records of the Baltimore archdiocese as part of an investigation into child sex abuse, the latest U.S. state seeking confidential church files since a Pennsylvania grand jury released an explosive report alleging widespread abuse and a cover-up scandal.

Brotherhood must not be used as a cloak for privilege and secrecy.