IRELAND
The Tablet
29 May 2014 12:22 by Sarah Mac Donald
A new initiative to reach out to survivors of clerical sexual abuse has been set up by the Irish Church.
Towards Peace is seeking to help victims to re-engage with their faith and the first of four regional launches took place in St Joseph’s parish, Cork, last Sunday with a Mass of healing and reconciliation said by the Bishop of Cork and Ross, John Buckley, and the Bishop of Killaloe, Kieran O’Reilly.
The initiative came as Pope Francis announced that he is to meet abuse victims in the Vatican. The Tablet understands that he will meet survivors from the United Kingdom and Ireland.
The Irish initiative aims to provide a “spiritual companion” to accompany victims in a journey towards healing their faith. It has been set up after requests from survivors to the Irish bishops for a pastoral response, according to Una Allen, who chairs Towards Peace.
Note: This is an Abuse Tracker excerpt. Click the title to view the full text of the original article. If the original article is no longer available, see our News Archive.