Francis drew attacks over clergy sexual abuse, the role of women in the church and his stance on abortion, reflecting difficulties the church faces in the West.

Pope Francis was pressed firmly by Belgium's king and premier on Friday for more concrete action to address sexual abuse by Roman Catholic clergy, an issue once more in the spotlight as he visits. Both King Philippe and Prime Minister Alexander De Croo raised the issue in public in unusually forceful language for a papal foreign trip,

I always talk about the dignity of women,’ he said on his flight back to Rome. ‘An abortion is a homicide,’ he said, adding, ‘The doctors who carry this out are hitmen.’ He also spoke of the ‘responsibility to help the abused and to take care of them