BUFFALO, N.Y. — Road to Recovery President Robert Hoatson was not very accepting of the letter the Vatican released from Pope Franics on Monday.

"It's very frustrating because the Pope still does not get it. He still is not getting to the heart of the matter," Hoatson said.

In his letter, the Pope acknowledged the suffering of those children abused at the hands of clergy and the Catholic Church's failure to act. The Pope called on church leaders to prevent future incidents, while Hoatson is calling on the Pontiff to fire all the Bishops and lay out a plan to fix the problem.

"One scripture passage he has not used yet and I wish he would use: 'Anyone who would harm a child should have a millstone tied around his or her neck and be thrown into the sea,'" Hoatson said.

The Pope's message was released on the heels of the Pennsylvania State Attorney General's report last week detailing decades of sexual abuse and cover-ups on the part of more than 300 clergy in the state. Hoatson says he was in the room that day and walked away with some hope.

"Finally we're getting to the core of the issue. And hopefully the states around Pennsylvania, and the other 49 states will do exactly the same thing Pennsylvania did," said Hoatson.

The U.S. Conference of Catholic Bishops issued a statement Tuesday about the Pope's letter.

"These words must provoke action especially by the Bishops. We Bishops need to, and we must, practice with all humility such prayer and penance. I offer that only by confronting our own failure in the face of crimes against those we are charged to protect can the Church resurrect a culture of life, where the culture of death has prevailed," said Cardinal Daniel DiNardo, president of the U.S. Conference of Catholic Bishops.

While the Diocese of Buffalo has yet to comment on the Pope's message, Bishop Richard Malone did respond to the Pennsylvania report.

"I share in the sense of horror at the magnitude of damage wrought on victims by ministers of the church who, all of all people, should be eminently trustworthy. It's a different church now in the way we respond to any claims of abuse," Bishop Malone said.

Hoatson says past cases have also been made public in California and Alaska, in addition to a groundbreaking case in Boston. 

In a statement released Tuesday, Amy Spitalnick, a senior policy advisor for New York Attorney General Barbara Underwood, said that victims in New York deserve to have their stories heard as well. 

"The Attorney General has directed her Criminal Division leadership to reach out to local district attorneys — who are the only entities that currently have the power to convene a grand jury to investigate these matters — in order to establish a potential partnership on the issue." 

She added that "the only way justice can fully and truly be served in these cases is if the Legislature passes the Child Victims Act. Victims of abuse deserve their day in court."