Updated on Thursday at 8.40am with Pope's letter

Pope Francis has summoned Chile's bishops to the Vatican after receiving a report from Maltese Archbishop Charles Scicluna about sexual abuse by priests in the South American country.

Pope Francis in a letter to Chile's bishops admitted he made "grave errors" in judgment in Chile's sex abuse scandal and said he is inviting the abuse victims he had initially discredited to Rome to beg their forgiveness.

READ: Chile sex abuse victim 'hopeful' after meeting Archbishop Scicluna

"I apologize to all those I have offended and I hope to be able to do it personally in the coming weeks, in the meetings I will have" with victims, he said in a letter to Chilean bishops.

Chile has been shaken by the case of Bishop Juan Barros, appointed by the pope in 2015 despite accusations that Barros had covered up sexual abuse of minors by his mentor Father Fernando Karadima.

Francis, who visited Chile in January, at first strongly defended Barros, saying he was the target of slander. Then the pope dispatched Archbishop Scicluna to Chile and New York to interview victims. 

The pope's letter did not reveal Mgr Scicluna's conclusions, but he  told the bishops he wanted to discuss Scicluna's findings with them and asked for their cooperation in order re-establish serenity in Chile's Church and "repair the scandal as much as possible and re-establish justice."

The Pope's letter in full, in Spanish and English, can be read in the pdf links below.