The letter was issued on Monday where he addressed to the people of god and condemned the actions that caused “deep wounds of pain and powerlessnes”

His letter started with: “If one member suffers, all suffer together with it” (1 Cor 12:26)”.

“We showed no care for the little ones; we abandoned them,” he wrote to Catholics across the world.

“I acknowledge once more the suffering endured by many minors due to sexual abuse, the abuse of power and the abuse of conscience perpetrated by a significant number of clerics and consecrated persons,” he wrote.

“Crimes that inflict deep wounds of pain and powerlessness, primarily among the victims, but also in their family members and in the larger community of believers and nonbelievers alike.

“Looking back to the past, no effort to beg pardon and to seek to repair the harm done will ever be sufficient.

“Looking ahead to the future, no effort must be spared to create a culture able to prevent such situations from happening, but also to prevent the possibility of their being covered up and perpetuated.

“The pain of the victims and their families is also our pain, and so it is urgent that we once more reaffirm our commitment to ensure the protection of minors and of vulnerable adults.

Pope Francis said he realised that these wounds never disappear and that they require us forcefully to condemn these atrocities and join forces in uprooting this culture of death; these wounds never go away.