 |
| Pope Francis said the Catholic Church's failure to address the abuse scandal had "rightly given rise to outrage", admitting it was a source of "pain and shame" |
Pope Francis expressed "pain and shame" over the Catholic Church's failure to deal with abuse and met with eight victims during a visit to Ireland on Saturday where the prime minister pressed him to take action.
Francis
said the "failure of ecclesiastical authorities... adequately to address
these repellent crimes has rightly given rise to outrage, and remains a source
of pain and shame for the Catholic community.
"I
myself share those sentiments," he said in a speech in Dublin Castle,
speaking alongside Irish Prime Minister Leo Varadkar.
The pope
later held an hour and a half meeting with victims of abuse at the hands of
clergy or in Church-run institutions, including Marie Collins, who was, at the
age of 13, abused by a priest while being treated in a hospital in Dublin.
Collins,
who last year resigned from a Vatican commission for child protection over its
inaction, told reporters that the pope's speech was "disappointing"
and "nothing new".
One of the
victims of Fr Tony Walsh, a priest and serial abuser who assaulted hundreds of
children over nearly two decades, was also present but preferred to remain
anonymous.
'Cries
for help'
Paul Jude
Redmond, who was adopted illegally from a Catholic-run home in the 1960s where
his mother had been interned for being pregnant and unmarried, was among those
who met the pope.
Redmond said the pope "lifted his hands to his head in shock" during the closed-door meeting after hearing stories of ill-treatment in Church-run Mother and Baby Homes.
 |
Around
500,000 people are expected to attend a mass which will be given by
Pope
Francis on Sunday in Dublin's Phoenix Park
|
Redmond said the pope "lifted his hands to his head in shock" during the closed-door meeting after hearing stories of ill-treatment in Church-run Mother and Baby Homes.
"We
feel hopeful there will be more movement from the Church," Redmond said in
a statement put out by the Coalition of Mother and Baby Home Survivors.
Varadkar,
an openly gay leader and a symbol of Ireland's liberalising culture, demanded
from Pope Francis "that from words flow actions" for victims in a
strongly-worded speech.
He said
Ireland's multiple historic scandals were "stains on our state, our
society and also the Church."
"Far
too often there was judgement, severity and cruelty... people kept in dark
corners, behind closed doors, cries for help that went unheard," he added.
"There
is much to be done to bring about justice and truth and healing for victims and
survivors. Holy Father, I ask that you use your office and influence to ensure
that this is done here in Ireland and across the world."
'An
inspirational man'
Francis's
visit was the first by a pope in this former bastion of Catholicism since John
Paul II spoke to a crowd of 1.5 million people during a visit in 1979.
Irish
society is virtually unrecognisable from that time.
A new generation has shed Ireland's traditional mores, electing Ireland's first gay prime minister and voting to legalise same-sex marriage and abortion -- both once unthinkable.
 |
Map showing
the trips of Pope Francis since the start of his papacy
|
A new generation has shed Ireland's traditional mores, electing Ireland's first gay prime minister and voting to legalise same-sex marriage and abortion -- both once unthinkable.
In Dublin,
tens of thousands of people lined the streets to cheer Pope Francis on as his
Popemobile made its way from St Mary's Pro-Cathedral, where he gave marriage
advice to couples, to a hostel for homeless families.
"I
just think he is an inspirational man. He has a difficult job to do to try and
bring around a lot of changes in the Church but he is doing his best I
feel," said Eileen Grier-Gavin, who came from County Mayo in western
Ireland to see the pope pass by.
The pope
later attended a Festival of Families in Croke Park Stadium with more than
82,000 people in attendance.
'Still in
denial'
Earlier
this month, the Vatican was rocked by a devastating US report accused more than
300 priests in Pennsylvania state of abusing more than 1,000 children since the
1950s.
The pope
wrote a letter to the world's 1.3 billion Catholics vowing to prevent future
"atrocities" but also conceding that no efforts "to repair the
harm done will ever be sufficient".
Ireland has grappled with its own history of abuse, with multiple probes finding Church leaders protected hundreds of predatory priests over the decades.
 |
On arrival
in Dublin, Pope Francis was met on the red carpet by Irish Foreign
Minister
Simon Coveney and his children, who gave him white and yellow roses
|
Ireland has grappled with its own history of abuse, with multiple probes finding Church leaders protected hundreds of predatory priests over the decades.
The
Argentine pontiff was in Ireland to close the 2018 World Meeting of Families
(WMOF) -- a global Catholic gathering that takes place every three years.
The
highlight of the trip will be an outdoor mass in the city's Phoenix Park on
Sunday, which is expected to draw 500,000 people.
Priests and
nuns from across Ireland have flocked to the capital, although merchandise
sellers said business was sluggish.
"Local
people are not spending," said street vendor Tony Mooney, 67.
"There's an awful lot of not nice things being said to us."
Richard
Duffy, 31, said he was opposed to the visit, telling AFP "it just boggles
my mind that there's a celebration for him coming here."
"They're
still in denial and refusing to admit any fault," he added.
No comments:
Post a Comment
Note: Only a member of this blog may post a comment.