Sunday Mirror (Northern Ireland)
Global press zoom in on abuse storm
THE world’s press swamped their readers and viewers with live coverage of the Pope’s visit to Ireland. In Spanish newspaper La
Stampa it was the abuse scandals that led the news.
Its story was headlined: “Pope Francis: ‘The failure of the fight against paedophilia makes me ashamed.’”
CNN focused on the problem of parents forced to baptise their children so they could access school places.
The BBC led with the Pope being “ashamed” of the abuse scandals that have rocked the Church.
It said: “The Irish prime minister earlier delivered a warning to the Pope to take action against clergy involved in child abuse.”
The Washington Post said the Catholic Church has lost its “oncetowering authority” due to the devastating abuse scandals.
The New York Times said Catholics were hoping Pope Francis would use his visit to Ireland to reach out to abuse victims.
It said he was visiting “a transformed country where the once-mighty Roman Catholic Church is in tatters”.
Le Monde, the French newspaper, ran a banner headline: “Paedophilia scandals: In Ireland, the Pope evokes his ‘shame’ at the ‘failure’ of the Church.”
Al Jazeera asked: “The pope will meet child abuse survivors in Dublin. Is it enough?”