Pope Francis admitted that priests and bishops sexually abused nuns

Pope Francis admitted Tuesday that priests and bishops had badually abused nunsHe said in the plane back from the United Arab Emirates in Italy at the request of a journalist.

"There were priests and bishops who did that," said the pope, who had never addressed this issue but considered it present in the church.

In his opinion, this phenomenon is found "everywhere", but it is more present in "certain new congregations and certain regions".

The female supplement of the Vatican newspaper The Osservatore Romano He devoted his February issue to the case of Sexual abuse and the power of religious and its director, Lucetta Scaraffia, have asked the Church not to ignore this situation of oppression against women.

The pontiff also said that this problem was still topical: "I think that's always done. This is not over when you realize it. The thing goes on like this, "he said.

"We have been working on this issue for a long time. We suspended several religious who were fired for this cause."said Francisco, without mentioning names or countries.

"I do not know if the (canonical) process is over, but we also dissolved some religious congregations closely related to this corruptionn, he added, noting that the Church can not take refuge in denial

"Should we do something else? Yes, do we have the will to do it? Yes!", added the sovereign pontiff.

Recently, from 21 to 24 February 2019, presidents of episcopal conferences around the world were summoned by Pope Francis to the Vatican to discuss the prevention of child abuse.

With information from AFP and EFE