Pope Francis will meet
victims of priestly sex abuse on his August 25-26 visit to
Ireland, the Vatican said Tuesday.
Vatican Press Office chief Greg Burke made the announcement
in presenting the pope's pastoral visit to the island, one of
the many countries to have been racked by clerical sex abuse.
Francis will also pray for the victims of abuse on Saturday
in a Dublin cathedral in front of a lamp that has been put there
to mark victims' suffering, Burke said.
"It is important for the pope to listen to them", said Burke,
who did not give details on where and when the meeting would
take place.
He said the victims would decide whether to divulge the
contents of the meeting.
The pope will also pray at the tomb of the 'patron saint of
alcoholics', ex-Franciscan friar Matt Talbot.
The announcement came a day after the pope apologised for
being "too late" to stop "atrocities" on children, saying the
Church had "abandoned the little ones", in reference to about a
thousand kids abused in the latest case in the US.
In an impassioned letter to the People of God, Francis voiced
"shame and repentance" on the latest clerical sex abuse
scandal that has rocked the Catholic Church, saying authorities
had acted too late.
Francis said "with shame and repentance, as an ecclesiastical
community, we admit that we did not go where we should have
gone, that we did not act in time recognising the scope and
gravity of the damage that was being caused to so many lives".
He said "We neglected and abandoned the little ones".
The pope said priestly sex abuse of children is a crime that
"generates deep wounds".
Francis said "we ask forgiveness" for the "atrocities"
committed in priestly sex abuse of minors.
The pontiff was forced to apologise earlier this year after
dismissing victims' claims that Chilean Bishop Juan Barros
witnessed and did nothing about abuse committed by the country's
most notorious sexual predator, Father Fernando Karadima.
Victims groups have complained that Francis has not done
enough on the issue.
ALL RIGHTS RESERVED © Copyright ANSA
