‘Too busy’ Pope may not meet abuse victims
POPE Francis may not meet clerical sex abuse victims during his visit here because ‘time is very tight’, Archbishop of Dublin Diarmuid Martin has said
Speaking at the launch of an exhibition at the Office of Public Works centre in the Phoenix Park on the Papal visit in 1979, the archbishop said that he expects that the Pope will address the issue of Church abuse when he comes here next month as part of the World Meeting of Families.
‘He will obviously speak about various forms of abuse, not just clerical – there was the abuse in the institutions, in the laundries, the mother and baby homes.’
But he said: ‘It would be great for him to meet some of the victims, survivors from that group, but the time is very tight.’
The archbishop added: ‘I have been pushing.’
The comments have angered some of those who suffered abuse at the hands of the Church, including Colm O’Gorman, executive director of Amnesty Ireland.
‘So the Pope doesn’t have any time for the victims of his institutions cover-up of child rape and sexual assault?’ Mr O’Gorman tweeted last night. ‘The casual indifference demonstrated by this approach is staggering, even from the Vatican.
‘At least this spares us all the usual cynical, box-ticking meeting where a small group of selected people are invited to share their experiences with the Pope, who then expresses his sorrow at their pain without taking a jot of responsibility for the Vatican’s cover-up of abuse.’
During his visit, the Pope is set to attend the Festival of Families at Croke Park on Saturday, August 25. The following day, the Pontiff will then visit Knock before returning to the capital for the Holy Mass in Phoenix Park.
The organisers for the World Meeting of Families confirmed yesterday that they have written to those who have booked tickets for the Mass telling them to expect a wait in receiving their tickets for the event.
‘Overnight, we have written to all those who have booked tickets advising them of a revised date of their ticket issue from July 31 to August 10,’ Brenda Drumm, spokesperson for the WMOF said yesterday. ‘This is in order to help people plan their journeys in the most effective way.’