Pope Francis condemned the “crimes” of sexual abuse that have plagued the Catholic Church, saying it “showed no care for the little ones” in a pointed letter released by the Vatican on Monday.

The three-page letter was in direct response to last week’s bombshell grand jury report that priests sexually abused more than 1,000 children for decades in Pennsylvania — and that the heinous acts were covered up by bishops.

“With shame and repentance, we acknowledge as an ecclesial community that we were not where we should have been, that we did not act in a timely manner, realizing the magnitude and the gravity of the damage done to so many lives,” the pope wrote. “We showed no care for the little ones; we abandoned them.”

Francis blasted church leaders for being more concerned with their own reputations than the safety of children.

“We feel shame when we realize that our style of life has denied, and continues to deny, the words we recite,” he wrote in the letter, which was released ahead of his weekend trip to Ireland, a once staunchly Roman Catholic country that has been rocked by similar revelations of priests raping and molesting children for decades.

It was expected that priestly sexual abuse would dominate the trip – but the troubling issue recently took on a new gravity for the pope. One of his most trusted cardinals, Theodore McCarrick, was accused this summer of sexually abusing young boys and adult seminarians.

The pope acknowledged that even though many of the Pennsylvania cases date back decades, “these wounds never disappear and that they require us forcefully to condemn these atrocities and join forces in uprooting this culture of death; these wounds never go away.”

He said “zero tolerance” measures are being put in place, as well as ones that hold perpetrators and leaders complicit in cover-ups accountable, but he didn’t provide specifics.

“We have delayed in applying these actions and sanctions that are so necessary, yet I am confident that they will help to guarantee a greater culture of care in the present and future,” he said.

Several years ago, Francis nixed a proposed Vatican tribunal to prosecute negligent bishops. He’s also failed to act on credible reports of church leaders who’ve failed to report abusers or mishandled cases, yet remain in office.

His letter is a stark departure from the US bishops’ conference, which has referred only to “sins and omissions” in their handling of abuse. The pope’s letter squarely labels the misconduct as “crimes.”

“Let us beg forgiveness for our own sins and the sins of others,” he wrote. “An awareness of sin helps us to acknowledge the errors, the crimes and the wounds caused in the past and allows us, in the present, to be more open and committed along a journey of renewed conversion.”

In a statement, Pennsylvania Attorney General Josh Shapiro called the pope’s letter “powerful” and said his holiness has “long been a fighter for the defenseless.

“It is my hope that, following the Holy Father’s words and teachings, church leaders in Pennsylvania will cease their denials and deflections and now fully support the grand jury’s recommendations so that survivors have the opportunity to obtain justice and ensure this type of widespread abuse and cover up never happens again,” Shapiro said.

But Marie Collins, who was sexually abused by a priest as a teen and went on to serve on a special Vatican commission targeting the misconduct, said the pontiff’s words were not enough.

“A little puzzled by Pope Francis reference in his letter to ‘work being carried out’ in parts of the world to make ‘those who cover up’ accountable,” Collins, one of the Vatican’s staunchest critics, tweeted. “We have been told only the Pope can hold bishops accountable. Sadly nothing as regards to a concert plan of action in this letter.”

She added in another tweet, “Statements from Vatican or Pope should stop telling us how terrible abuse is and how all must be held accountable. Tell us instead what you are doing to hold them accountable. That is what we want to hear. ”Working on it” is not an acceptable explanation for decades of ‘delay.'”