Abuse Victims Urge Pope to Sack Cardinal Brady during Visit to Vatican

By Pat Flanagan
Irish Mirror
July 7, 2014

http://www.irishmirror.ie/news/irish-news/abuse-victims-urge-pope-sack-3825179


An Irish clerical abuse victim who met the Pope yesterday pleaded with him to sack Cardinal Sean Brady.

Marie Kane, 43, personally asked Pope Francis to dismiss the Primate of All Ireland for failing to protect children from paedophile monster Brendan Smyth.

The Pope met six clerical sex abuse victims, including Ms Kane and Marie Collins, in the Vatican to express his sorrow and ask for forgiveness.

But Carlow-based Marie Kane said that nothing will change until those who were involved in “cover-ups” in this country are removed.

She said: “It’s a big thing with me that there are still members of the hierarchy there who were involved in the cover-up.

“Until people like (Cardinal) Sean Brady are gone I will never believe there is change.”

Ms Kane said Pope Francis “listened intently” to her “and at times seemed frustrated by what he was hearing”.

She said she told the Pope that “cover-up is still going on and you have the power to make these changes”.

Ms Kane said that Pope Francis said it was “difficult to make these changes”. She added: “But it’s a big thing with me that Sean Brady is gone.”

She added: “Just get these guys out of power that shouldn’t be there.....that are guilty of cover-ups and who covered up in my case as well and they know who they are.”

As a teenager the mother-of-two was abused by a Dublin priest who was moved instead of being kicked out of the Church and prosecuted.

She said she believes that the Pope wants to bring in change and apologised to her for her suffering.

She said: “I’ve left it with him (the Pope) whether he can do anything about it or not we’ll have to wait and see.

“He apologised to me and I felt it came from the heart. He seemed very sincere and very sorry.

“I think he realises he has a lot of changes to make. We can only leave it with him and wait and see.”

Before the meeting the Pope expressed his sorrow during a private Mass with the six abuse victims.

The Pope said: “I beg your forgiveness, too, for the sins of omission on the part of Church leaders who did not respond adequately.”

Vatican spokesman the Reverend Federico Lombardi confirmed two Irish, two British and two German victims met separately for about 30 minutes apiece with Francis at the Pope’s Vatican hotel.

He said Francis had already greeted the six on Sunday evening at dinner.

Other abuse survivors not at the meeting said the encounter will not ease complaints that the Vatican has failed to punish bishops and other Church officials who systemically covered up the abuse of minors.