IRELAND
Irish Examiner
Wednesday, June 13, 2012
A survivor of institutional abuse has today criticised the Pope’s envoy for meeting victims in secret during a pilgrimage.
Papal Legate Cardinal Ouellet asked for forgiveness during his penitential pilgrimage to Lough Derg in Co Donegal on behalf of Pope Benedict XVI.
Men and women from both sides of the border who suffered at the hands of clergy spoke of the impact it had had on their lives during a two-hour meeting with the senior churchman.
A spokesman said he was deeply moved by his meeting with the survivors of abuse and would be reporting on the meeting to the Pope on his return to Rome from the 50th International Eucharistic Congress in Dublin.
But one leading campaigner, who requested time with the Cardinal, said he was outraged that he was not part of the group.
Michael O’Brien, former Mayor of Clonmel, said he and survivor Christy Heaphy made several calls and sent emails to church administrators for time with the cleric.
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