From the United States to Argentina, Chile, Mexico and other nations, victims yesterday issued a letter made public in Mexico City telling the Argentine pontiff that "words are not enough."
The letter said that only civilian trials and Church reform will put an end to the "great holocaust of thousands of boys and girls who were sacrificed to avoid scandal and salvage the image and prestige of the Catholic Church's representatives in the world."
The letter was read by Jose Barba, one of the victims of Marcial Maciel, the Mexican founder of the ultra-conservative Legion of Christ order who died in 2008.
Pope Francis has called for "zero tolerance" of abusive priests since his election in March 2013.
He has asked victims for forgiveness, pledged to combat pedophilia and formed a Church child protection panel.
This month, he issued a strongly-worded letter to bishops warning Roman Catholic clergy they must never try to cover up sexual abuse.
While the pope voiced "great pain" and ordered a church investigation into the case, a Spanish court dropped charges against nine of the clergymen because the accuser waited too long to bring the charges.
At the press conference in Mexico City, some of the victims questioned the pope's commitment to fighting pedophilia in the Church.
"We demand that the pope, at the very least, live up to his word because we can all make headlines. Enough with the headlines," said Juan Carlos Cruz, a Chilean victim who said he feld "deeply betrayed" by the pontiff.