Pope summons churchmen to plan Irish investigation

IRELAND’S four most senior churchmen have been called to Rome to discuss final preparation for a Vatican investigation of the Church in Ireland due to get under way later this month.

Pope Benedict announced in March that he was planning to send a high-powered delegation to Ireland in the wake of the devastating reports into the Church’s often gross mishandling of allegations of sexual abuse made against priests and religious orders.

Much of the groundwork for the visit is believed to have been worked on over the summer.