Pope Francis has promised to "offer all the help we can" to aid victims of clergy sexual abuse heal after victims told him first-hand of the trauma that had shattered their lives and left many in poverty and mental misery.

Francis’ visit to Belgium has been dominated by the abuse scandal, with King Philippe and Prime Minister Alexander De Croo both blasting the Catholic Church’s dreadful legacy of priests raping and molesting children and its decades-long cover-up of the crimes.

Speaking before approximately 300 dignitaries, the pope remarked that child abuse is “a scourge that the Church is tackling resolutely and firmly.”