Religious Arguing/News here---->

[HairOfTheDog]

The Catholic Church's history of rampant child abuse is a global travesty and disgrace.

Pope Francis is in full damage- control mode following the latest revelations of wide-scale sex abuse, molestation and child pornography from within its ranks.  



Pope Francis, opening the first papal visit to Ireland in almost four decades, wasted little time Saturday in addressing the Catholic Church's sex abuse crisis, saying he shares outrage over the cover-up of "repugnant crimes" of priests who raped and molested children.

Ireland is ground zero of the Catholic Church’s sex abuse crisis, with the institution under fire across the globe for its systemic failures to protect children or to punish bishops who hid the crimes.

“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, speaking in Italian.

“The failure of ecclesiastical authorities — bishops, religious superiors, priests and others — to adequately address these repugnant crimes has rightly given rise to outrage, and remains a source of pain and shame for the Catholic community," he said in a speech to Irish government authorities. "I myself share these sentiments.”

He did not indicate, however, whether he plans to take forceful action to hold bishops accountable for protecting children or to sanction them when they fall short.

Francis was expected to meet with victims during his 36-hour trip and will have “many opportunities” to speak out about abuse, the Vatican said.

But neither Francis’ words nor a new meeting with abuse victims is likely to calm the outrage among rank-and-file Catholics following new revelations of sexual misconduct and cover-up in the United States, an ongoing crisis in Chile and prosecutions of top clerics in Australia and France.