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	Church Must Guard against Abuse - Pope The Irish Times February 8, 2010 http://www.irishtimes.com/newspaper/breaking/2010/0208/breaking67.htm Pope Benedict, who will meet Irish bishops next week to discuss the report of the Murphy commission on the handling of child sex abuse allegations in the Dublin diocese, said today the church must keep its guard up against those who violate the rights of children. Addressing participants of a Vatican conference on protecting childhood, Pope Benedict acknowledged that "unfortunately, in a number of cases, some of its (the Church) members acted in contrast to this commitment". The pontiff will meet bishops from Irish dioceses to discuss the Murphy Commission report published last November, which concluded that Church leaders had covered up widespread abuse of children by priests over a 30-year period. It said bishops had "obsessively" hidden child abuse in the Dublin archdiocese from 1975 to 2004, and operated a policy of "don't ask, don't tell". In his address today, Pope Benedict said Jesus's harsh words in the Bible about those who harm children "should commit everyone to never lowering the level of respect and love". After the release of the report the Vatican and the Irish Church came under intense criticism for not responding earlier to its findings. The Irish bishops later met the pope in Rome, where he expressed "outrage, betrayal and shame" over the abuse. One of the topics of next week's meeting is expected to be a letter the pope will write to the Irish people about the crisis and a plan for action - the first time a pope will devote a document solely to the clergy's abuse of children. The Murphy report said all Dublin archbishops in charge during the period under study had been aware of some complaints, but the archdiocese had been more preoccupied with protecting the reputation of the Church than safeguarding children.
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