BOSTON (MA)
Boston Globe

By Laura Crimaldi | GLOBE STAFF JULY 09, 2014

New Englanders touched by the clergy sexual abuse crisis in the Catholic Church are divided over whether Pope Francis’ first meeting with victims was sincere or a publicity stunt, but they agree on one thing: The gesture will mean little unless the pontiff pushes for change.

“I think meeting with six victims is a great start. It doesn’t mean that anything is going to change,” said Phil Saviano, a Roslindale resident who established the New England chapter of the Survivors Network of those Abused by Priests.

Francis met on Monday with six victims, two each from Ireland, Germany, and the United Kingdom, in the hotel where he lives on Vatican grounds. They also joined the pontiff for his morning Mass.

Cardinal Sean P. O’Malley, archbishop of Boston, attended the meeting, said Harry-Jacques Pierre, a spokesman for…