Ten Catholic priests and two church lay workers risk serving a jail term of over 20 years each for allegedly abusing children sexually.
One of the victims had intimated the Pope of the actions of some priests under his care in the southern Granada in Madrid, Spain.
The suit which was filed on Tuesday, January 27, 2015 stated that the 12 suspects had allegedly molested four teenage boys in the priest’s parochial home between 2004 and 2007.
They are free on bail pending trial.
According to Aljazeera, the Pope told reporters he received a letter documenting the abuse from one of the alleged victims in November and then directed him to personally report the case at the Granada diocese.
Pope Francis further disclosed that he subsequently sent a letter to the Archbishop of the diocese, Francisco Javier Martinez urging him to probe the report.
A handful of priests were relieved of their duties and arrested following the investigation two months ago.
Pope Francis reinstated the resolve of the church to ensure that sexual abuse of children by the priests is nipped in the bud.
He also disclosed that about 850 priests were sent away between 2004 and 2013 for sexual molestation of children.
