Cape Town – The South African cardinal who made headlines after making controversial statements about paedophilia has said his remarks were taken out of context.

Cardinal Wilfrid Napier defended himself following the furore that erupted after he spoke to the BBC, according to reports.

Napier was slammed by women and children’s rights groups for saying that paedophilia “is actually an illness … it is not a criminal condition”, and saying that people who were abused as children and then abused others needed to be examined by doctors.

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