“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.”

In addressing the abuse crisis, Ms. Ghisoni called for “the dynamic involvement of the whole people of God.”

Cardinal Cupich presented a framework for “clear procedures to hold bishops involved in misconduct and mishandling [of abuse cases] accountable.”

Pope Francis prayed that the Holy Spirit would “sustain” summit participants and “help us to turn this evil into an opportunity for awareness and purification.”

Frederic Martel boldly told reporters at a press conference at the Foreign Press Association in Rome on Feb. 20 that “the great majority” of the more than 200 members of the College of Cardinals are leading double lives.

“We all know that canon law has to be changed so that it stops protecting the priesthood of ordained men over the lives of children," Anne Barrett Doyle, the co-director of BishopAccountability.org, told reporters.

Arturo Sosa, S.J., the superior general of the Society of Jesus, today made public the four main reference points that are to guide the life and work of the Jesuits over the next 10 years.

The Vatican will live-stream all the keynote speeches and the interventions of Pope Francis at the upcoming summit on the protection of minors.