ROME – Pope Francis has promised “concrete” solutions, warning that we must transform “this evil into an opportunity for awareness and purification,” at the opening of the Vatican anti-paedophilia summit on Thursday.

 “Faced with the scourge of sexual abuse by men of the Church to the detriment of minors, I thought of asking you, patriarchs, cardinals, archbishops, bishops, religious superiors and leaders … [to] listen to the cry of the little ones asking for justice,” the pontiff said.

 "The holy people of God are watching and expect not just simple and obvious condemnations, but efficient and concrete measures to be established.”

 The four-day “Protection of Minors” meeting, focussing on stamping out sex abuse in the church, will end on Sunday.

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