Pope attacks failings he is also accused of

POPE FRANCIS has lamented how Irish church authorities failed to respond to sexual abuse, at his first public appearance after accusations that he himself covered up for a former US cardinal.

Francis presided over his weekly general audience in St Peter’s Square and spoke about his weekend trip to Ireland, where the abuse scandal has devastated the Catholic Church’s credibility.

The final day of the trip was overshadowed by release of a document from a retired Holy See diplomat accusing Vatican authorities, including Francis, of covering up for ex-Cardinal Theodore McCarrick – despite knowing for years that he regularly slept with religious scholars.

The author of the document – retired Vatican ambassador to the US Archbishop Carlo Maria Vigano – said Francis should resign for his complicity in the McCarrick scandal. Francis referred to the Irish culture of cover-up, but he omitted from his remarks a line in his prepared text noting how he had prayed in Ireland for the Virgin Mary to intervene to give the church strength to “firmly pursue truth and justice” to help victims heal.

US bishops have called for an independent investigation to find out who knew about McCarrick’s abuse and when, and how he was able to rise through the ranks even though it was an open secret that he regularly invited seminarians to his New Jersey beach house and into his bed.