"I know it has not been easy to start this work," the pope told the members of the commission in off-the-cuff remarks notable for their frankness. "You have had to swim against the current because there is a reality: the church has taken consciousness about these crimes in a delayed manner." "When the consciousness is delayed, the means for resolving the problem are delayed," said Francis. "I am aware of this difficulty. But it is a reality. I’ll say it so: We have come to this late."

Translation: We had to (and still have to) obey Church Law which orders Bishops and Cardinals to cover up clergy pedophilia in places where Civil Law does not order Bishops and Cardinals to report clergy pedophilia to police. We will keep on obeying Church Law whenever we can do so as long as we can continually deceive politicians and journalists into believing that, even after three years of almost no results from the Commission, the Church is facing head-on the cover-ups by Bishops and Cardinals.