Pope Francis on Sunday asked for forgiveness for the \u00ab\u00a0scandal and betrayal\u00a0\u00bb felt by victims of sexual exploitation by Catholic clergy as he toured Ireland where years of abuse scandals have shattered the Church’s former dominant role in society.<\/b>
\nDUBLIN\/KNOCK, Ireland (Reuters) – Pope Francis on Sunday asked for forgiveness for the \u201cscandal and betrayal\u201d felt by victims of sexual exploitation by Catholic clergy as he toured Ireland where years of abuse scandals have shattered the Church\u2019s former dominant role in society.
On the first papal visit to Ireland in almost four decades, Francis met privately with eight victims of clerical, religious and institutional abuse on Saturday and said he would seek a greater commitment to eliminating this \u201cscourge\u201d.
But pressure on the pope over the issue increased on Sunday when a former top Vatican official accused Francis of having known of allegations of sex abuse by a prominent U. S. cardinal for five years before accepting his resignation last month.
\u201cNone of us can fail to be moved by the stories of young people who suffered abuse, were robbed of their innocence and left scarred,\u201d Francis told a crowd of tens of thousands at the Knock shrine in the west of Ireland on Sunday morning.
\u201cThis open wound challenges us to be firm and decisive in the pursuit of truth and justice. I beg forgiveness for these sins and for the scandal and betrayal felt by so many others in God\u2019s family,\u201d he said, to applause from the crowd.
Years of sexual abuse scandals have shattered the credibility of the Church which four decades ago dominated Irish society. In the past three years, Irish voters have approved abortion and gay marriage in referendums, defying the Vatican.
The declining influence of the Catholic Church has been demonstrated by crowds far smaller than those that met Pope John Paul II during the last Papal visit in 1979, when more than three-quarters of Ireland\u2019s population turned out.
Still, up to 500,000 were expected to flock from all over the country to watch Francis end his visit by saying mass at Dublin\u2019s Phoenix Park.
\u201cGiven the way things are with so many young peoples\u2019 faiths – a lot are not coming to mass because of the abuse – hopefully Pope Francis can draw them back in again,\u201d said Celine Hill, 57, who woke up at 0300 local time to travel from Portstewart in Northern Ireland to see the pope with her husband, Kieran. \u201cFALSE DAWNS\u201d
Francis, facing sexual abuse crises in several countries, wrote an unprecedented letter to all Catholics last week asking each one of them to help root out \u201cthis culture of death\u201d and vowing there would be no more cover ups.
At Knock, Francis also condemned the treatment by Catholic religious orders of children who were \u201cdistanced from their mothers, abandoned and left with painful memories,\u201d an apparent reference to homes for unmarried mothers that operated until the 1990s, where many babies were separated from their mothers.
During the 20th century tens of thousands of unmarried pregnant women, including rape victims, were sent to give birth at so-called mother-and-baby homes. Many of the children were adopted and during the 1930s-1950s the mortality rate for the \u201cillegitimate\u201d children was far higher than that for those born to married parents.
Some who turned out on a misty morning in the village, where a group of locals in 1879 said they saw an apparition of the Virgin Mary, said Francis should be given a chance to deal with the abuse issues that have rocked the Church for decades.
\u201cPeople have to give this man a chance, he\u2019s trying his best,\u201d said Carmel Lane, who travelled from County Longford in the midlands to attend the Mass.
Vatican officials on Sunday declined immediate comment on the 11-page letter in which Archbishop Carlo Maria Vigano said he had told Francis in 2013 that Cardinal Theodore McCarrick had faced extensive accusations of sexual abuse.
One Irish survivor of clerical abuse who met the pope on Saturday, Paul Redmond, said strong language used by Francis at the meeting gave him hope that something might be shifting in the Catholic Church.
\u201cThere\u2019s been a lot of false dawns, there\u2019s been a lot of empty promises and a lot of talk but maybe, maybe this is the time something, something substantial will actually happen in the Church,\u201d Redmond told Reuters.
Ireland\u2019s Deputy Prime Minister Simon Coveney also said Francis\u2019 promise of decisive action on abuse was very welcome, but told broadcaster RTE that \u201cpeople will clearly be watching now after this visit to see what actions follow.\u201d
With protests planned to coincide with Francis\u2019 mass in Dublin and elsewhere, others who took part in sporadic demonstrations on Saturday were not convinced.
\u201cI don\u2019t think he should come and expect us to pay for his visit when there are people today in Ireland who are so damaged and need so much help that they can\u2019t function because of all the abuse,\u201d said Lisa, 30, who declined to give her surname.
\u201cHe shouldn\u2019t have come.\u201d<\/p>\n

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