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	Pope Shares 'Outrage' at Sex Abuse by Irish Priests By Catherine Jouault AFP December 11, 2009 http://www.google.com/hostednews/afp/article/ALeqM5jE8Mp8mXwUsmkCp3Tup6hXzttsqw VATICAN CITY — Pope Benedict XVI on Friday once again apologised for sexual abuse of children by Catholic priests, this time directing harsh words to Irish clergy cited in a damning report. The pope "shares the outrage, betrayal and shame felt by so many of the faithful in Ireland (over) these heinous crimes," the Vatican said in a statement. He feels "profound regret at the actions of some members of the clergy who have betrayed their solemn promises to God, as well as the trust placed in them by the victims and their families, and by society at large," the statement said. Benedict met Friday at his request with Ireland's top two Catholic churchmen, primate of all-Ireland Cardinal Sean Brady and Dublin Archbishop Diarmuid Martin. The meeting followed the publication last month of the report concluding that Dublin archbishops concealed clerical abuse and failed to inform police of their crimes over a period of more than three decades. One priest admitted to sexually abusing over 100 children, while another confessed that he had abused children on a fortnightly basis over 25 years. The pope has already apologised on behalf of the Roman Catholic Church for the actions of paedophile priests in the United States, Australia and Canada. Several top Vatican officials attended the meeting in the pope's private library that lasted an hour and a half, according to Vatican spokesman Federico Lombardi. He told reporters that the participants did not discuss whether any of those implicated in the scandal should resign. But Martin told reporters: "We will need a very significant reorganisation of the Church in Ireland." Four archbishops and other senior church officials cited in the report face growing pressure to resign. The Vatican statement said the pope would address a pastoral letter to Irish Catholics without specifying a date. The pope's visit to the United States in April 2008 was dominated by his efforts to turn the page on a paedophilia scandal that had shaken the American Catholic Church since 2002. The pope voiced his "shame" over the crimes committed by the priests and his compassion for the victims, whose representatives he met while in Washington. A few months later he offered a similar gesture in Australia during the Catholic World Youth Days in Sydney. In April this year, the pope lamented ill-treatment including sexual abuse suffered by the children of indigenous Canadians at Catholic Church-run schools. Beginning in 1874 and until the 1970s, 150,000 Indian, Inuit and Metis children in Canada were forcibly enrolled in 132 boarding schools run by Christian churches on behalf of the federal government in an effort to integrate them into society. The Vatican statement Friday said the Catholic Church "will continue to follow this grave matter with the closest attention in order to understand better how these shameful events came to pass and how best to develop effective and secure strategies to prevent any recurrence."
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