Vatican City, Aug 21, 2018 / 07:21 am
Pope Francis is likely to meet with victims of clerical sexual abuse later this week, a papal spokesman announced on Tuesday. The proposed meeting would take place as part of the Holy Father's two-day trip to Ireland for the World Meeting of Families.
In a briefing to journalists ahead of the papal trip to Dublin Aug. 25-26, spokesman Greg Burke said that if the encounter takes place, its purpose will be for the pope to listen to victims, and that it will be done privately, with no details released until afterward.
The possible meeting between the pope and victims would follow the same pattern as Francis' meeting with victims of clerical sexual abuse in Chile during his visit to the country in January 2018, that meeting was also unscheduled.
Though Francis is traveling to Dublin for the conclusion of the 2018 World Meeting of Families, Burke, who is the director of the Holy See press office, told journalists the pope is aware that any visit to Ireland cannot only address that event, though it will be his primary focus.