Pope sends 'pastoral letter' to Ireland amid protests from Irish Church abuse victims

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Pope Benedict XVI

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What do you think about Pope Benedict's letter to the Irish Church?

It was a sincere apology that will help heal the Church

It was a sincere apology, but he side-stepped what concrete action the Church will take

It was just more of the same religious jargon, and doesn't change a thing

It was a letter from a morally corrupt man as guilty as the pedophile priests

• News / Pope says abuse sinful, but does not say Bishops should resign / Click here
 
• Niall O'Dowd / Pope Benedict pastoral latter a huge disappointment in abuse scandal / Click here
 
• Text / Benedict's letter to the Irish Chuch / Click here
 
• Father Tim / In defense of the Holy Father / Click here

The Pope must personally apologize to Irish Catholic Church sex abuse victims, and admit the Church abused its power and covered up for pedophile priests, a large Irish victims' group said Friday — the same day Benedict signed his promised "pastoral letter" to Irish Catholics.

"One in Four" has a clear agenda for Pope Benedict XVI's upcoming pastoral letter to Ireland's Catholics — which will be released Saturday — about the scandal that has rocked the nation.

One in Four wants the Pope to admit that the Church — "at the highest levels" — has known about the pedophile priest problem and its cover-up for decades.

The victims' group suggested the Pontiff say "We have pursued a deliberate policy of cover-up, protecting sex offenders in order to avoid scandal, with no regard for the safety of children. The scandal of clerical sexual abuse is international and extends far beyond the Irish Church."

One in Four also demands that Benedict admit that his Church had "silenced and sanctioned courageous priests and lay people who have tried to expose the endemic sexual abuse."

The letter's release date would have been touchy, and its content controversial, no matter what — but in recent days it has come to light that Ireland's top cleric, Cardinal Sean Brady, had sworn two children to secrecy during a 1975 probe into their abuse by the notorious pedophile Father Brendan Smyth.

New abuse scandals have also come to light in the Pope's native Germany, Austria, the Netherlands and Switzerland.

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