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	Pope Distressed at Ryan Briefing By Clodagh Sheehy Herald June 6, 2009 http://www.herald.ie/national-news/pope-distressed-at-ryan-briefing-1764046.html THE Pope last night expressed his solidarity with the victims of clerical sex abuse in Ireland. The pontiff has been asked to help rescue the Catholic Church here from the fallout from the Ryan Report on the abuse of children in religious institutions. Cardinal Sean Brady and Archbishop Diarmuid Martin met Pope Benedict in Rome last night to explain the negative reaction to the report and to ask his advice on how to restore public confidence. Cardinal Brady said: "He was obviously very distressed about what we had to tell him. "In fact, he allowed us to do most of the talking, and he listened very sympathetically and attentively to what we said. Archbishop Martin said: "He obviously has been informed about it. He didn't read the entire thing, but he was aware of it and very distressed by it." "You could see that it was distressing for him, what we said and what he knew, there was no doubt about that." warned The Pope and the two Irish Church leaders discussed Government demands that religious orders should make a more substantial contribution towards compensating abuse survivors. Cardinal Brady and Archbishop Martin are understood to have warned Pope Benedict about the impending report by the separate commission of investigation into child sex abuse in the Dublin Diocese. That report, which is due within months, contains details of abuse allegations made by hundreds of victims between 1975 and 2004. Senior Church figures expect it to contain further shocks. While he made no formal comment, a Vatican spokesman said afterwards that the Pope had expressed his solidarity with the Irish victims. Contact: csheehy@herald.ie
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