PRESS TV
January 22, 2010
http://www.presstv.ir/detail.aspx?id=116774§ionid=351020606
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Pope Benedict XVI has summoned Irish bishops to the Vatican over the shocking official account of sexual child abuse by Roman Catholic priests in Ireland.
The pontiff is expected to sketch a way forward for unspecified senior clerics during a two-day meeting in mid-February. This is in the wake of an earlier Irish government report that implicated a number of priests for involvement in pedophilia. They were members of the Dublin archdiocese, Ireland's most important and populated Catholic Church.
In the government description of the sex scandal, one priest was depicted as ''sexually molesting tens of children committed to the church,” while another was charged with sexual enslavement of children for around 30 years. Both priests admitted to the charges.
Meanwhile, church authorities have been admonished for covering up the decades-long abuse of altar children.
The indignity of the abuse created outrage in Ireland and sparked a crisis of confidence in church leadership.
Irish bishops are due to meet Friday in order to further discuss the child molestation case.
Earlier, Dublin Archbishop Martin blasted the 'criminal behavior' of the priests and called for the prosecution of the arraigned clergymen, noting, "No words of apology will ever be enough for the hurt caused."
The Roman Catholic leader has also condemned the offenses and shared "the outrage, betrayal and shame felt by so many of the faithful in Ireland (over) these heinous crimes," AFP quoted him as saying.
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