Pope Francis traveled to Ireland, where he met with survivors of sexual abuse by Catholic priests and acknowledged the “grave scandal” of church sexual abuse. It was the first papal visit to Ireland since 1979. This is Paul Redmond, one of the abuse survivors who met with Pope Francis.
Paul Redmond: “We’re looking for unqualified, wholehearted apologies. And certainly we got one today from the pope, but whether that will translate into a huge official apology from the church is another matter. But it’s whether that translates into actual actions. That’s what really matters to us. That’s what really matters to us and to survivors around the world and to 1.2 billion Catholics around the world who are desperate to see their own church actually finally just confess and atone for their sins. And it’s long overdue.”
Pope Francis himself is now facing calls to resign, after a former top-ranking Vatican official released a 7,000-word letter Sunday claiming the pope knew about allegations of sex abuse by high-ranking Cardinal Theodore McCarrick but failed to punish him. Pope Francis has refused to comment on the accusations. We’ll have more on the pope’s visit to Ireland later in the broadcast.