Pope Francis during his visit to the Knock Shrine in County Mayo on
August 26, 2018, on the second day of his visit to Ireland to attend the
2018 World Meeting of Families. AFP PHOTO | OSSERVATORE ROMANO
Pope Francis in Ireland Sunday "begged for God's forgiveness"
for the child sexual abuse scandal rocking the church but faced
accusations by a former Vatican official that he had personally ignored
allegations against senior clergy.
Francis is due to
speak in front of some 500,000 faithful in Dublin's Phoenix Park as part
of his two-day visit to the former Catholic stronghold of Ireland, as
abuse victims and their supporters gathered in a "Stand for Truth" rally
in the city centre to demand justice.
During Sunday's
address to 45,000 supporters at the rain-soaked Knock shrine in the west
of the country, the pope "begged for God's forgiveness" for the "open
wound" of the scandal and demanded "firm and decisive" measures to find
"truth and justice".
The scandal has dogged the visit,
and intensified overnight when a former Vatican envoy to the US accused
Francis of personally ignoring sexual abuse claims against prominent US
cardinal Theodore McCarrick, who was forced to resign last month.
Archbishop Carlo Maria Vigano wrote in a letter published in the National Catholic Register that
he had told Francis of the allegations in 2013, but that he had
responded by lifting sanctions imposed on McCarrick by predecessor Pope
Benedict.
"He (Pope Francis) knew from at least June
23, 2013 that McCarrick was a serial predator," wrote Vigano," adding
"he knew that he was a corrupt man, he covered for him to the bitter
end."
The Vatican said it had no comment to make on the claims.
Irish
Prime Minister Leo Varadkar on Saturday directly urged the pope to take
action against abuses and ensure justice for victims worldwide.
Francis
said inaction over "these repellent crimes has rightly given rise to
outrage, and remains a source of pain and shame for the Catholic
community. I myself share those sentiments".
Abuse victims
Francis
on Saturday also met eight abuse victims, including a woman assaulted
by a priest when she was in hospital aged 13 and a man who was illegally
adopted because his mother was unmarried.
In a
strongly-worded speech at the start of the pope's visit, Varadkar said
the abuses in Ireland were "stains" on the Catholic Church, the state
and Irish society as a whole.
"There is much to be done
to bring about justice and truth and healing for victims and survivors.
Holy Father, I ask that you use your office and influence to ensure
that this is done here in Ireland and across the world," he said.
He demanded of Francis "that from words flow actions".
Paul
Jude Redmond, who was illegally adopted from a Church-run "Mother and
Baby Home" and met the pope on Saturday, said the pontiff appeared
"genuinely shocked" by the stories of abuse.
But at a
news conference in Dublin on Saturday by the group Ending Clergy Abuse
(ECA), victim Mark Vincent Healey said the pope's speech in Dublin was a
"total missed opportunity".
"We're still waiting. We're left with uncertain silence. When is he going to act? What is he going to do?"
This is the first papal visit to Ireland since John Paul II spoke in front of 1.5 million people during a visit in 1979.
Scandals
The
Church's role and standing has been badly dented by the abuse scandals
and the Irish have shed traditional Catholic mores, voting earlier this
year to legalise abortion after approving same-sex marriage in 2015.
The
pontiff is in Ireland to close the 2018 World Meeting of Families
(WMOF) -- a global Catholic gathering that addressed issues including
the treatment of gay people in the Church.
Street
vendors in Dublin selling papal souvenirs complained of sluggish trade,
as protesters rubbed shoulders with devout Catholics in the streets of
the city.
In Tuam, a town in western Ireland not far
from Knock, a silent vigil was planned for Sunday in solidarity with
victims of "mother and baby" homes — institutions accused of being
punishment hostels for unwed pregnant women.
"Significant
quantities" of baby remains found in makeshift graves at the site of
one such home in Tuam last year shocked the country.
Multiple
probes in Ireland have found Church leaders protected hundreds of
predatory priests and former Irish president Mary McAleese revealed this
month that the Vatican had sought to keep Church documents inaccessible
to government investigators.
The abuse scandals in Ireland are part of a worldwide crisis for the Vatican.
A
devastating report earlier this month accused more than 300 priests in
the US state of Pennsylvania of abusing more than 1,000 children since
the 1950s.
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