Ireland: Catholic bishops meet with survivors' groups before meeting with pope

On October 7, 2009, representatives of four groups of Irish survivors of clerical abuse  - Right to Peace, Alliance Support Group, Irish SOCA and Right of Place - met with the Catholic Bishops’ Conference of Ireland.

At that meeting it was agreed that a representative group of bishops would continue to meet with survivors. They are: Bishop Colm O’Reilly, Bishop of Ardagh and Clonmacnoise, Bishop John Mc Areavey, Bishop of Dromore, Bishop John Buckley, Bishop of Cork and Ross and Bishop John Fleming, Bishop of Killala.

The first meeting of this group took place on December 11, 2009. A second meeting took place February 8 in Maynooth involving Mr Tom Hayes of the Alliance Support Group, Mr John Kelly and Mr Patrick Walsh of Irish SOCA, Mr Michael O’Brien of Right to Peace, Mr Michael Walsh of Right of Place and Bishop O’Reilly, Bishop McAreavey, Bishop Buckley and Bishop Fleming.

The February 8 meeting provided information to Irish bishops in their preparations for their visit to Rome next week to meet Pope Benedict XVI.

Bishop John McAreavey said “Today’s meeting was constructive and helpful to us as we prepare to meet the Holy Father next week. The meeting focused on the ongoing concerns of survivors. We intend to relay these concerns to Pope Benedict both verbally and in the form of written submissions which were presented to us today by survivors and which directly represent their views.”

Pope Benedict has repeatedly stated his dismay over reports of sexual and other abuse perpetrated over decades by Ireland's Catholic priests and religious on children and other persons in their care.