THE Pope is set to make an historic apology when he visits Sydney in July - to the tens of thousands of Australians sexually and physically abused by predatory Catholic priests.Church sources have told The Daily Telegraph there is mounting expectation that Pope Benedict XV1 will use his Australian trip to express his shame and regret over the church's long-running abuse scandal - and may also meet with victims.
The likelihood of an apology increased yesterday when one of the Catholic church's most senior figures, the bishop of Maitland-Newcastle, Michael Malone, gave his backing for a papal apology.Bishop Malone said the Pope had set a precedent by apologising to American abuse victims on a recent tour of the US and "I would certainly be supportive" of an Australian apology.
It is believed The Vatican will consider the wording of any papal apology in the weeks leading up to Pope Benedict's arrival in Sydney on July 13 for the World Youth Day festivities.
One Catholic church source said: "It's hard to believe that after making the sort of apology he did in America a few weeks ago that he would leave Australia without doing the same thing."
Pope Benedict told American abuse victims last month that it was "difficult for me to understand this was possible that priests betrayed in this way their mission to give healing
"We are deeply ashamed and we will do all that is possible that this cannot happen in future."
Groups representing Australian victims of church abuse said a papal apology was long overdue.
"The scale of abuse in Australia has been far greater than in the US," said Dr Wayne Chamley, a spokesman for Broken Rites.
"There are tens of thousands of victims from Catholic-run institutions who were denied education, they were used as slaves, they were sexually and physically abused.
"We don't believe the Pope has been told the full story about the level of abuse here. The bishops have not briefed him. If the Catholic church was a private company these bishops wouldn't have a job."
A spokesman for the organisers of World Youth Day, which is expected to draw more than half a million Catholic pilgrims to Sydney in July, declined to speculate whether the Pope would issue a formal apology while in Australia.
"We cannot comment on what the Pope may or may not say. That will be a matter entirely for him."
Hundreds of catholic clergy have been accused of abusing children in their care dating back to the 1950s, with the church rocked by repeated scandals and accusations of cover-ups by senior officials.
In the past decade the church has settled more than 1000 claims of abuse as part of its 'Towards Healing' process.
It has also made several significant multi-million dollar payouts in recent years, including $3.6 million four years ago to 24 men with intellectual disabilities who were abused in residential care units.
Leonie Sheedy, a spokeswoman for Clan, another victims rights group, said it was "unbelievable that we have had to wait this long for even an apology to be contemplated.
"We'd welcome the sorry word. But so much more needs to be done to look after these people who have suffered for so long."
Broken Rites has written to the Vatican's representative in Australia, the Most Reverend Guiseppe Lazzarotto, requesting a meeting between Pope Benedict and a small group of up to 30 abuse victims.
It has also called on the Vatican to launch an inquiry into the behaviour and performance of senior Australian Church officials and their involvement in the abuse scandal. +++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++
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