Kenny: Church aware of hurt it caused

The Catholic Church understands the need to deal fully with the scars of child abuse since his criticism of the Vatican, Taoiseach Enda Kenny said ahead of his meeting today with the Pope.

This will be the first time he speaks to Pope Benedict XVI since he told the Dáil that the Vatican was dominated by “dysfunction, disconnection, elitism”, and that narcissism dominated “the culture of the Vatican to this day”.

“The rape and torture of children were downplayed or managed to uphold instead the primacy of the institution, its power, standing and reputation,” he told the Dáil in July last year,accusing Rome of trying to bury the issue of child abuse to protect the institution of the Church.