Pope to conclude historic bishops meeting

THE Pope will today conclude his historic two-day emergency meeting with Irish bishops in Rome, at which the fallout from the Murphy report into allegations of the rape and abuse of 320 children by 46 priests in the Dublin Archdiocese, is top of the agenda.

Yesterday, the Pope’s second-in-command, Cardinal Secretary of State Tarcisio Bertone, said clergy who had sinned must admit blame for “abominable acts”.

He urged Irish Catholics not to let clerical child abuse scandals shake their faith. In a concelebrated Mass he told the bishops they must move from humiliation to humility to renew their Church.