Chile’s bishops have tendered an unprecedented mass resignation over a decades-long abuse scandal after Pope Francis accused the country’s church of destroying evidence of sexual crimes and “the gravest negligence” in the protection of minors.

In a damning 10-page report delivered to 34 Chilean bishops who were summoned to the Vatican this week, the pontiff said the Chilean Church was collectively responsible for “serious defects” in the handling of abuse cases.

Priests removed over sexual abuse had been moved to other dioceses where they remained in contact with children, complaints had been dismissed despite convincing evidence, and Church lawyers had been pressured to limit or halt investigations, he said. Prelates had also destroyed “compromising documents”, Pope Francis added.

Accusing the Chilean Church of “becoming self-focused” and falling into “ecclesiastical perversions” of messianism and elitism, the Pope said the depth of abuse in the South American country was a “painful open wound”. While individuals must be removed from their posts, it was not enough to address the problem, which, he declared, lay in “the system”.