POPE Francis has begged for forgiveness during a visit to Chile over the “irreparable damage” done to children who were raped and molested by priests in the country.

The Pope directly addressed a scandal that has greatly hurt the Catholic Church’s credibility in Chile.

Francis also faced controversy on another front as three more Catholic churches were torched – two in the southern Araucania region where Francis today meets representatives of Chile’s indigenous people.

While not causing any injuries, nine church firebombings in the past few days have marked an unprecedented level of protest against history’s first Latin American pope on his home turf.

However, in Santiago, tens of thousands of jubilant Chileans turned out in droves for Francis’s first public Mass.

Francis met privately with Chilean president Michelle Bachelet and addressed legislators, judges and other authorities at La Moneda palace.

They interrupted him with applause when he said he felt “bound to express my pain and shame” that some of Chile’s pastors had sexually abused children in their care.

He said: “I am one with my brother bishops, for it is right to ask forgiveness and make every effort to support the victims, even as we commit ourselves to ensuring that such things do not happen again.”