The first papal visit to Ireland in 29 years could be marred by protests if the Pope refuses to meet victims of sexual abuse by priests over many years. An organisation representing some of the victims of paedophile priests has written to the Irish Conference of Catholic Bishops asking for a meeting with Pope Benedict XVI during a visit expected to take place next year.
The bishops were to receive the warning during a special session held today to discuss matters including ongoing paedophile scandals.
Sean O'Conaill, the co-ordinator of Voice of the Faithful in Ireland, which includes Catholic priests as well as abuse victims, said that if the bishops refused to arrange a meeting between the victims and the Pope there would be "outrage and disgust".
"In that situation we would be forced to consider dignified protests during the papal visit. A boycott by contrast would be silent and unheard. There would be serious consideration given to protests," he said.
He added that the group's sister organisation across the Atlantic, Voice of the Faithful USA, would consider similar action if the Pope failed to meet their members on his expected visit to the US.
O'Conaill said: "It is unthinkable that Pope Benedict XVI could visit Ireland in the near future without alluding to [the] betrayal of children. Were he to leave Ireland without meeting, in dialogue, a representative gathering of survivors, this could only be regarded as a papal endorsement of that betrayal and as final proof that our church leaders pay only lip service to the principle of the equal dignity of all members of the church.
"Such a visit would therefore signal not a revival of the Irish church but the final triumph of denial and evasion, and the end of any prospect of a 'New Evangelisation' in Ireland in its aftermath."
Ireland's paedophile priest scandals have resulted in the Catholic church's influence waning over the past decade.
Mass attendances in big population centres, in particular Dublin, are at an all-time low.
Meanwhile, the Irish priesthood appears to be in terminal decline.
According to the Catholic News Service there will be just 1,500 priests serving Ireland by 2028.
Last year only nine young men joined the priesthood in Ireland.
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