Estonia

Pope acknowledges abuse scandals driving people from church

By NICOLE WINFIELD and JARI TANNER

TALLINN, Estonia (AP) — Pope Francis acknowledged Tuesday that the sex abuse scandals rocking the Catholic Church were driving people away and said the church must change its ways if it wants to keep future generations.

Francis referred directly to the crisis convulsing his papacy on the fourth and final day of his Baltic pilgrimage, which coincided with the release of a devastating new report into decades of sex abuse and cover-up in Germany.

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