Pope to meet Irish clerics today

POPE Benedict XVI will head a delegation of senior Vatican officials who will meet with Cardinal Seán Brady and Archbishop Diarmuid Martin in Rome today to discuss the continuing fallout from the Murphy report for the Irish Catholic Church and senior bishops.

The two senior members of the Irish hierarchy are expected to inform Pope Benedict about the widespread anger and sadness of the laity at the failure of many bishops properly to handle allegations of child sexual abuse by priests in the Archdiocese of Dublin over a 35-year period.

However, it is unclear if there will be any specific discussion about the position of several bishops who were criticised in the report.