POPE FRANCIS’S LETTER TO THE PEOPLE OF GOD
But they’ll be looking for more than ‘sorry’
AFTER weeks of speculation, it now appears that Pope Francis is planning to meet with survivors of clerical sex abuse during his visit to Ireland – albeit in a meeting that will be shrouded in secrecy.
According to a well-placed source, a number of those who have been invited to the meeting are in the process of being Garda-vetted.
The source said that those invited had been told that once cleared by security, they would learn later this week where and at what time they would meet the Pope.
However, the source said that the meeting is expected to take place in a room in Dublin Castle after the Pope’s 12.15pm address to an invited audience there this Saturday, August 25. The Irish Daily Mail has learned that at least one of the abuse victims due to meet the Pope is a leading figure within the survivors community.
It is understood that the Pontiff will be meeting a small but varied cross-section of survivors of sexual and institutional abuse – including former inmates of the Magdalene laundries and of the mother-andbaby homes.
The Vatican says it does not put the Pope’s meetings with victims of sexual abuse on his official schedule for trips. When he has met with victims of abuse during previous trips – such as his visits to Chile in January and Philadelphia in 2015 – they were only announced shortly after they had ended.
A spokesperson for Archbishop of Dublin Diarmuid Martin said last night: ‘We cannot discuss possible private meetings (with) Pope Francis.’
Reports that the meeting is scheduled to go ahead comes as Pope Francis issued a letter to Catholics around the world condemning clerical sex abuse and its cover-up. In the letter, the Pope, who arrives in Ireland on Saturday for the World Meeting of Families, begged forgiveness for the pain suffered by victims.
He said lay Catholics must be involved in the effort to root out abuse and cover-up. And he attacked Church leaders for being more concerned for their reputation than for children’s safety.
It is the first time in the history of the Church that a Pope has written to all of the world’s Catholics – some 1.2 billion people – about sexual abuse. Past letters on sex abuse scandals have been addressed to the bishops and faithful of individual countries.
The Pope’s letter, however, failed to say how those who covered up the abuse would be sanctioned.
Pope Francis has been under increasing pressure over clerical abuse in recent weeks.
Most recently, allegations have emerged in the US that one of his most trusted cardinals, the retired archbishop of Washington, Theodore McCarrick, allegedly sexually abused and harassed minors as well as adult seminarians.
He is the first cardinal to lose his red hat in nearly a century.
In addition, a grand jury report in Pennsylvania last week reported at least 1,000 children were victims of some 300 priests over the past 70 years. It also found that generations of bishops failed repeatedly to take measures to protect their flock or punish the abusers.
Campaigners in Ireland, meanwhile, say they fear any meeting with abuse survivors during the Papal visit will be a token gesture.
Marie Collins, a clerical abuse survivor who has spent the last 20 years campaigning for reform, said the Pope should meet a representative group of survivors who will challenge him to take concrete actions on tackling abuse.
‘I do feel there was an effort by the Church to airbrush the whole issue of abuse out of the picture during the Pope’s visit because it might be an unpleasantness,’ she said. ‘When the suggestion was made that there wasn’t enough time, there was huge anger amongst survivors, including myself.’
Ms Collins intends to spend this Sunday with other survivors, their families and supporters at an event in the Garden of Remembrance
‘Put action behind the words’
organised by fellow campaigner Colm O’Gorman, director of Amnesty International Ireland.
One of the representatives of a group that has been invited to meet the Pope told the Mail last night: ‘If I hadn’t been invited to meet him, I wouldn’t go out of my way to see him.
‘But it is too good an opportunity to pass up to say to his face that the Catholic Church needs to stop making empty promises and put action behind the words.
‘He needs to look us in the face on Saturday and make some serious commitments to us.
‘After all, many of our community are dying off.’
It’s understood that those helping to make the arrangements for the reported meeting are staff working for Archbishop of Dublin Diarmuid Martin.
Those invited to attend have also been told not to talk to anybody about the forthcoming meeting.
When Archbishop Martin said earlier this month that the Pope’s ‘time was very tight’ to meet with abuse victims, it was met with fury in the survivors’ community.
Maeve Lewis, the CEO of childhood abuse survivors support charity One in Four, told the Mail last night that she has not been invited. However, she said she was aware of at least one leading survivors’ advocate who is due to meet with Pope Francis.
Last night, that person was unavailable to speak to the Mail about the meeting.
When asked by the Mail if he had been invited to meet the Pope, abuse survivor Colm O’Gorman, who set up One In Four, replied in a text: ‘Not that I know of. No invitation to do so as of yet.’
Asked if he had heard if an invitation might be forthcoming, he replied: ‘I haven’t heard anything about that.’ He said also his protest ‘in solidarity of those harmed by the Church’ is still going ahead at 3pm on Sunday, at the Garden of Remembrance in Dublin city centre.