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	Pope 'Deeply Disturbed' by Irish Sex-Abuse Scandal NECN December 12, 2009 http://www.necn.com/Boston/World/2009/12/11/Pope-deeply-disturbed-by/1260555384.html [with video] (NECN/APTN: Vatican City) - Pope Benedict XVI said on Friday that he was "deeply disturbed and distressed" by a child sex-abuse scandal in Ireland and would write a letter to the nation's Catholics on the church's response. Benedict met senior Irish clergy after a report from government investigators found that the Roman Catholic church had shielded more than 100 child-abusing priests from the law. "The Holy Father was deeply disturbed and distressed by its (recent child abuse report) contents," Papal spokesman Father Federico Lombardi said. "He wishes once more to express his profound regret at the actions of some members of the clergy, who have betrayed the solemn promises to God, as well as the trust placed in them by the victims and their families and by society at large." The Vatican said after the 90-minute talks that the letter to the faithful of Ireland "will clearly indicate the initiatives that are to be taken in response to the situation." Attending the talks were Irish Cardinal Sean Brady, Dublin Archbishop Diarmuid Martin and the Vatican envoy to Ireland, Archbishop Giuseppe Leanza. The report found that church leaders in the Dublin Archdiocese failed to inform authorities about sexual abuse by priests, while police failed to pursue allegations in the belief that church figures were effectively above the law. The revelations led to private debates among Catholic bishops over whether any of their number should resign. The Vatican statement made no mention of any possible resignations. The 720-page report found that dozens of church leaders in Ireland's most populous diocese kept secret the record of child abuse by more than 170 clerics since 1940. It said the church did not co-operate with police and social workers charged with stopping child abuse until 1995. It has opened the way for thousands of abuse complaints expected to cost the Dublin Archdiocese $30 million.
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