Bishops summoned to meet Pope to discuss abuse report fallout

THE Pope has summoned Irish bishops to an emergency meeting in Rome at which the fallout from the scandalous Murphy report into the rape and abuse of 320 children by 46 priests in the Dublin Archdiocese will be top of the agenda.

The meeting next month between Pope Benedict and the Irish hierarchy is said to be in response to the findings of the Murphy report, which investigated how Church and state authorities handled allegations of child abuse against 46 priests, from 1975 to 2004.

Today, religious newspaper, The Irish Catholic, reveals that bishops will be provided the opportunity to speak to the Holy Father about the clerical child abuse scandals when they report to him.