Pope Francis has arrived in Ireland on Saturday with an official two-day visit, which is the first visit of the leader of the Catholic Church to the country in over four decades, local media reported.
MOSCOW (Pakistan Point News / Sputnik - 25th August, 2018) Pope Francis has arrived in Ireland on Saturday with an official two-day visit, which is the first visit of the leader of the Catholic Church to the country in over four decades, local media reported.
According to the RTE broadcaster, the pope will meet with Irish President Michael D. Higgins in the latters residence on Sunday. The ceremony of oak tree planting will take place in the residence. Pope John Paul II, the last catholic leader who has visited Ireland prior to Pope Francis, also took part in such ceremony in 1979.
The pontiff also addressed the growing number of scandals on cover-up of sexual abuse and rape of minors by catholic priests.
"With regard to the most vulnerable, I cannot 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," Pope Francis said in a speech at the Dublin Castle, as quoted by the broadcaster.
The leader of the Catholic Church went on to join public outrage over the child abuse.
"The failure of ecclesiastical authorities - bishops, religious superiors, priests and others - adequately to address 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," the pope stressed.
During his visit, the pope is set to have a largely anticipated meeting with victims of clerical sexual abuse, as well as with a number of state officials, and attend the World Meeting of Families Congress in Dublin. Before departing for Vatican, he will also deliver a mass in Phoenix Park in the country's capital on Sunday.
Pope Francis visits Ireland just over week after another massive cover-up of sexual abuse and rape of minors by catholic priests was revealed, with a grand jury report showing that more than 1,000 children had been molested by at least 301 Roman Catholic priests in the US state of Pennsylvania since the 1940s.
Ireland, where almost 80 percent of the population consider themselves Roman Catholics, according to the 2016 census, has also seen its share of clerical molestation scandals. In 2009, a report revealed that Archdiocese of Dublin and other authorities of the Catholic Church in the country covered up sexual abuse by priests for almost 30 years, from 1975 to 2004.
