Solicitor delivers written request to Pope

AN IRISH solicitor has hand-delivered a letter to the Papal Villa, urging the Pope to open up all files on clerical sexual abuse, particularly those in his home diocese of Ferns.

Simon Kennedy has just returned from Rome. He had posted five letters to Pope John Paul II but was yet to receive a reply. He hoped it would be sixth time lucky for he and the victims of clerical sexual abuse he had represented.

In his letter, sent on behalf of client Damian McAleenan, the county Wexford solicitor referred to the Pope’s apology in the wake of the BBC documentary, Suing the Pope.