Vatican City • Pope Francis urged Catholic bishops on Wednesday to dream of a future free of the mistakes and sins of the past as he opened a global gathering of the church leadership amid renewed outrage over the priestly sex abuse and cover-up scandal.
Francis celebrated Mass in St. Peter’s Square with some of the more than 200 priests, bishops and cardinals summoned to Rome for a monthlong meeting on proposing new ways to minister to today’s young Catholics.
Francis prayed for the bishops to guide the young with experience but also to rekindle in themselves the gift of “dreaming and hoping” that young people have.