Pope compares Church sexual abuse, corruption to excrement, victims say

DUBLIN (Reuters): Pope Francis vowed on Saturday to end the sexual exploitation of children by the clergy during a highly charged visit to once deeply Catholic Ireland and, according to victims, said the corruption and cover-up of abuse amounted to human excrement.

On the first papal visit to the country in almost four decades, Francis used a speech at a State event that was also attended by some abuse survivors to acknowledge that it was to the Church’s shame it had not addressed these “repugnant crimes”, and said he sought a greater commitment to eliminating this “scourge”.

He later met privately for 90 minutes at the Vatican Embassy with eight victims of clerical, religious and institutional abuse.

In a statement, the representatives from the Survivors of Mother and Baby Homes group said Francis condemned corruption and cover up within the Church as “caca”, an Italian and Spanish word for human excrement.

The statement said that, after the Pope used the word, his translator explained that it meant “literally filth as one sees in a toilet”.

A Vatican spokesman had no comment on the details of what was said in the meeting. A Vatican official said he would not be surprised that the Pope had used the word.

“Very powerful meeting. He listened with a genuine interest,” said Clodagh Malone, who was born in one of the State-backed homes for unwed mothers and adopted at 10 weeks old.

The Pope earlier spoke publicly about abuse, saying he could not “fail to acknowledge the grave scandal caused in Ireland by the abuse of young people by members of the Church charged with responsibility for their protection and education”.

Years of sexual abuse scandals have shattered the credibility of the Church as a moral leader in Ireland and driven many from the Church. In the past three years, Irish voters have approved abortion and gay marriage in referendums, defying its wishes.

“The failure of ecclesiastical authorities - bishops, religious superiors, priests and others - adequately to address these repugnant crimes has rightly given rise to outrage, and remains a source of pain and shame for the Catholic community.”

In unprepared remarks, Francis added a reference to a letter he addressed last Monday to all the world’s Catholics on the abuse crisis, saying he wanted it to signal “a greater commitment to eliminating this scourge in the Church at any cost”. More than three-quarters of Ireland’s population flocked to see Pope John Paul II in 1979 when divorce and contraception were illegal. Francis was greeted by far smaller numbers.

Former top Vatican official calls on Pope to resign amid abuse crisis

BOSTON/DUBLIN (Reuters): A former top Vatican official accused Pope Francis of having known of allegations of sex abuse by a prominent US cardinal for five years before accepting his resignation last month and he called on the pontiff to resign.

In an 11-page letter given to conservative Roman Catholic media outlets during the Pope’s visit to Ireland, Archbishop Carlo Maria Vigano said he had told Francis in 2013 that Cardinal Theodore McCarrick had faced extensive accusations of sexually abusing lower-ranking seminarians and priests.

In an 11-page letter given to conservative Roman Catholic media outlets during the Pope’s visit to Ireland, Archbishop Carlo Maria Vigano said he had told Francis in 2013 that Cardinal Theodore McCarrick had faced extensive accusations of sexually abusing lower-ranking seminarians and priests.

Vatican officials declined immediate comment on the letter on Sunday.

McCarrick became the first Cardinal in living memory to resign his position in the Church leadership after a review concluded that claims he had sexually abused a 16-year-old boy were credible.

He was one of the highest-ranking church officials accused of sex abuse in a scandal that has rocked the 1.2 billion-member faith since reports of priests abusing children and bishops covering up for them were first reported by the Boston Globe in 2002.

Since then, patterns of widespread abuse of children have been reported across the United States and Europe, in Chile and Australia, undercutting the Church’s moral authority and taking a toll on its membership and coffers.

Vigano said in the letter reported by the conservative US National Catholic Register that he had told Francis of allegations against McCarrick in June 2013 shortly after his election as Pope by his fellow cardinals.

“He knew from at least June 23, 2013, that McCarrick was a serial predator,” Vigano, who served as the Vatican’s ambassador to the United States at the time.

“Pope Francis must be the first to set a good example for cardinals and bishops who covered up McCarrick’s abuses and resign along with all of them.”

Vigano’s letter railed against “homosexual networks present in the Church” — the word “homosexual” appears 18 times, while the word “child” appears only twice, in both cases in the titles of Church documents Vigano sites.