Paedophilia ‘not a crime’, claims cardinal who helped elect Pope

A South African cardinal who helped elect Pope Francis this week has told the BBC that paedophilia is an illness and not a crime.

Cardinal Wilfrid Fox Napier, the Catholic Archbishop of Durban, told BBC Radio 5 on Saturday that paedophilia was a “disorder” that needed to be treated.

“From my experience, paedophilia is actually an illness. It’s not a criminal condition, it’s an illness,” he said.