Pope Francis "to Meet Sexual Abuse Victims" While in Dublin

By Freya Drohan
Irish Central
June 17, 2018

https://www.irishcentral.com/news/pope-francis-sexual-abuse-victims

Pope Francis has a top priority during his Irish visit, according to The Archbishop of Dublin, Monsignor Diarmuid Martin.

Pope Francis will apparently meet victims who were sexually abused by members of the clergy when they were minors during his visit to Ireland at the end of August.

“The Pope will meet various groups”, Archbishop Martin reported to local members of press.

“In other visits across the world he has met with survivors. Generally speaking, he has met them quietly to respect their anonymity," he added while speaking at the launch of the schedule in Maynooth, Co. Kildare.

“There are a wide range of people who are survivors of institutions of abuse by priests, and of mother and baby homes."

“We’d find a way which the Pope can address concerns of all of those people but we have many meetings.

“I get five letters a day from people wanting to meet the Pope and certainly victims and survivors are high on the list of priorities.

“It’s a challenge for all of us," Dr. Martin concluded.

The cost of the Pope's two day visit is reportedly costing the Catholic Church and the Government ˆ20 million ($23.2m) - fundraising initiatives will also contribute towards the cost.

Also speaking at the event, Archbishop Eamon Martin, President of the Irish Bishops' Conference, also said child abuse is one of the “horrific realities” of the church in Ireland.

“It’s been traumatic for anyone who has experienced that and that trauma has rippled through and destroyed so many people around them and their family life.

“I hope we will have a sense of direction in moving forward and how to reach out to those who are suffering in this way and in other ways in the church," Dr. Martin said.

In November 2009, a report issued by the Irish government unveiled the harrowing sexual abuse endured by 320 children at the hands of 46 priests of the diocese of Dublin alone.

This document accused the archbishops of Dublin of covering up and stifling these cases of pedophilia for more than 30 years.

Pope Francis recently penned an eight-page letter to the Catholics of Chile, which he proceeded to make public declaring that the church will "never again" succumb to the "culture of abuse, and to the system of dissimulation that allows it to go on.”

Pope Francis affirmed his desire for a “new mentality” to better fight against the “roots” of sexual abuse committed by priests.