IRELAND
The Journal
POPE FRANCIS WILL meet survivors of abuse by paedophile priests for the first time tomorrow, as a Vatican commission moves to address the problem of clerical sex abuse in developing countries.
Six abuse survivors from Ireland, Britain, and Germany will talk with the head of the Roman Catholic Church at his private residence near Saint Peter’s Basilica in a gesture aimed at expressing his closeness to the tens of thousands of people abused by priests globally.
The private meeting – the first with abuse survivors since Francis was elected in February last year – is hotly awaited by support groups who have criticised the Argentinian for not acting earlier.
Speaking out
Francis has been slow to speak out on an issue which has hugely damaged the Catholic Church for over a decade, but in May he branded the sexual abuse of children by priests a crime comparable to a “satanic Mass” and promised “zero tolerance”.
Tomorrow’s encounter, which will follow a mass in the pope’s private chapel, will come a day after a meeting of the commission set up by Francis to advise him on the sexual abuse crisis and draw up protocols for the pope to consider.
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