POPE FRANCIS will be met with protests by victims of clerical sex abuse when he visits Ireland this summer, campaigners have warned.
The Pontiff, 81, will arrive in Dublin on Saturday August 25 and will take part in the Festival of Families, a faith-based cultural concert, in Croke Park.
He will also celebrate Mass at the Phoenix Park on Sunday, August 26 during the first trip to the country by the head of the Catholic Church for almost 40 years.
Margaret McGuckin from the group Survivors and Campaigners of Institutional Abuse was instrumental in establishing a public inquiry into sexual, physical and emotional wrongdoing dating back decades in Catholic-run residential homes in Northern Ireland.
She told The Telegraph: “I am sure people could get quite angry and irate that the Pope is still coming.
She added: “Our groups will be there to protest, there still remains a cover-up, we still know there has not been a proper investigation done into the abuses of the Christian Brothers.
He still hasn’t stepped in to do anything. I don’t think it is a good time for him to come here.”
On the other hand, The Irish Catholic Bishops Conference said: “We eagerly await the visit of Pope Francis which no doubt will be an occasion of spiritual renewal for our laity, religious and clergy, as well as a strengthening of Christian family life.”
The Catholic Church has been badly damaged by scandals over priests sexually abusing children and Pope Francis has been accused of failing to grasp the gravity of the issue.
Pope Francis caused outrage during a recent trip to Chile when he questioned the testimony of sex abuse victims and threw his support behind a bishop accused of covering up abuse.
