'Journey of repentance' begins as Pope holds Irish sex abuse summit

AN EXTRAORDINARY summit between Irish bishops and Pope Benedict XVI opened yesterday with a prayer and fraternal kisses in what was described as a first step toward repentance after the country's clergy sex abuse scandal.

Cardinal Sean Brady, archbishop of Armagh and primate of all Ireland, told Vatican Radio that the two-day meeting in Rome was part of a "journey of repentance, reconciliation and renewal" for the Irish Church.

An investigation last year revealed church leaders in Dublin had spent decades protecting child-abusing priests from the law, while many fellow clerics also turned a blind eye.

A separate report in Ireland released months earlier documented decades of sexual, physical and psychological abuse in Catholic-run schools, workhouses and orphanages.

Clogher Bishop Joseph Duffy said resignations were not on the agenda in Rome, despite victims' demands that clerics who played a role in concealing paedophile priests step down.

The 24 bishops went one by one to the pontiff and kissed his hand in a sign of fraternal respect in the first of two sessions yesterday. Today , before returning to Ireland for Ash Wednesday penance services, the bishops are due to have one more session with Benedict, who before becoming pope had decried "filth" among some ranks of clerics in the global Church.

The Pope asked each bishop where they were from before prayers began the summit and cameras were ushered out. The meeting continued behind closed doors. The pontiff plans to comment only after the summit ends this afternoon.

Vatican spokesman the Rev Federico Lombardi said one point of discussion would be the special pastoral letter the Pope had promised to send on the abuse scandal. However, it is thought that, due to the complexity of the issue, the letter would not be issued imminently. Victims have been clamouring not only for resignations but also for the Vatican to take clear responsibility for what they call a culture of concealment of abuse.

Several Irish bishops have agreed to resign, including two who stepped down on Christmas Day, but others have refused.

Bishops were due to speak individually with the pontiff about their views and knowledge of the decades-long sexual, psychological and physical abuse of minors by clergy in orphanages, workhouses and other institutions. The bishops at the summit include Martin Drennan of Galway, who is mentioned in the Dublin report. He has insisted he did nothing to endanger children and has refused to step down.

In the Dublin report, investigators determined that a succession of archbishops and senior aides had compiled confidential files on more than 100 parish priests who had sexually abused children since 1940. The files had remained locked in the Dublin archbishop's private vault.

Abuse victims have accused the Pope and his diplomat in Ireland, Archbishop Giuseppe Leanza, of hiding behind "diplomatic protocols" in refusing to respond to letters from investigators about the extent of abuse and cover-up. Cardinal Leanza is also at the summit.

Irish politicians have denounced the refusal of Cardinal Leanza, to testify to a parliamentary panel looking at the level of Catholic Church co-operation with investigations into the its cover-up of child abuse.