Paedophile priests and their protectors must be confronted, Catholic sex abuse victims urge ahead of Vatican summit

Roman Catholics who were sexually abused by clergy are insisting that decisive actions to confront the decades-long problem of paedophile priests and church cover-ups must come out of an upcoming Vatican summit.

A founding member of the advocacy group Ending Clergy Abuse, Peter Isely, contended Sunday that Pope Francis is “facing resistance” from top Vatican officials as he prepares to convene bishops from around the world.

“Let me tell you what it was like to try and have to resist that priest when I was a boy who was sexually assaulting me,” Isely said. “So whatever difficulty for him or discomfort this is for anybody in the papal palace, it is nothing compared to what survivors have had to undergo.”

Isely offered his perspective in an interview with The Associated Press near St Peter’s Square shortly before Francis spoke of the importance of the February 21-24 event on protecting children and teenagers in the church.

Addressing faithful in the square, Francis asked for prayers for the gathering of the heads of Catholic bishops’ conferences worldwide.