Pope Francis, on Wednesday, said he was ashamed at the scale of child sexual abuse within the Roman Catholic Church in France.  This statement came after a report released Tuesday estimated some 330,000 French children were abused by clergy and other church authority figures dating back to 1950.

The supreme pontiff acknowledged the church’s failures in putting the needs of victims first.

Speaking during his regular audience at the Vatican, Pope Francis said, “There is, unfortunately, a considerable number. I would like to express to the victims my sadness and pain for the trauma that they suffered. It is also my shame, our shame, my shame, for the incapacity of the church for too long to put them at the center of its concerns.”

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He called on all bishops and religious superiors to take all actions necessary “so similar dramas are not repeated.”

The pope also expressed his “closeness and paternal support” to French priests in the face of a “difficult test,’’ and called on French Catholics to “ensure that the church remains a safe house for all.”

The figure included abuses committed by some 3,000 priests and an unknown number of other people involved in the church. It said that the Catholic authorities covered up the abuse over decades in a “systemic manner,” according to the president of the commission that issued the report, Jean-Marc Sauvé.

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The 2,500-page document was issued as the Catholic Church in France, like in other countries, seeks to face up to shameful secrets that were long covered up. Victims welcomed the report as long overdue and the head of the French bishops’ conference asked for their forgiveness.

With inputs from the Associated Press