Pope Francis has been quoted as estimating the number of pedophiles in the Catholic clergy to be around 2 percent, but the accuracy of the report is being debated.

In an interview with La Repubblica, an Italian newspaper, Pope Francis is quoted as giving an estimate of "about 2 percent," according to The Independent. This would mean that out of the 414,000 priests in the world, 8,000 are offenders.

"Among the 2 percent who are pedophiles are priests, bishops and cardinals," the pope reportedly said. "Others, more numerous, know but keep quiet. They punish without giving the reason."

According to Father Federico Lombardi, a Vatican spokesperson, however, the alleged quotes were not taken down by the interviewer, Eugenio Scalfari, verbatim. The editor is known not to record or take notes during his interviews, and Lombardi claimed that some of the quotes did not come from the pope "with certainty."

"I find this state of affairs intolerable," Pope Francis was quoted as saying, adding that he wants to stop the "leprosy" of child abuse plaguing the "house" of Catholicism.

Pope Francis also reportedly vowed to "confront" pedophilia "with the severity it demands," BBC News reported.

In response, the Truth, Justice and Healing Council, an Australian Catholic body formed by the Australian Catholic Bishops Conference and Catholic Religious Australia to handle sexual abuse issues, has revealed that the percentage of Catholic clergy pedophiles is higher in Australia than the pope's estimates.

"It's 4 percent of men who have been a priest in the Catholic Church at some point in Australia [and] have been sex abusers," council member Francis Sullivan said, according to Australia's Yahoo!7News.

Sullivan also praised Pope Francis' efforts.

"It's a no-nonsense, a zero-tolerance attitude," he said. "He is probably ruffling feathers within the Vatican and good on him. ... The issue about child sex abuse is an issue that needs to be dealt with specifically. The pathology that drives it, the sickness around it needs to be dealt with specifically."
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Follow Scharon Harding on Twitter: @ScharHar.

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