Pope Benedict XVI has insisted that the Irish bishops carry out a ''deep examination'' of Catholic life in Ireland to renew faith in the Church, and is personally spearheading the Vatican's response to the abuse crisis here. The Pope will meet with his most senior advisers in the Vatican in coming days to monitor the ongoing situation in Ireland and is expected to address the situation directly after further consultations with senior Irish bishops.
It comes after the Pontiff held high-level talks with Cardinal Seán Brady and Dublin's Archbishop Diarmuid Martin during a meeting at the weekend.
The two senior Irish Churchmen also met with seven cardinals, senior members of the Roman Curia, who are advising the Pope on the next course of action.
One source in Rome, an official of the Congregation for the Clergy, told The Irish Catholic: ''Pope Benedict wants a hands-on approach to this issue and is not content to watch from a distance. He wants to be intimately briefed on every aspect of this unfolding situation so that the Holy See can offer whatever assistance is necessary.''
During the Papal meeting, Pope Benedict insisted that the Church must ''establish the truth of what has happened [and] ensure that justice is done for all''.
He also urged Irish bishops to ''put in place the measures that will prevent these abuses happening again; [and] with a view to healing the hurt suffered by survivors''.
Briefing
Following the series of meetings with the Roman Curia, which included talks with the heads of the Secretariat of State and the Congregations for the Doctrine of the Faith, Religious life, Clergy, Divine Worship, Bishops and Catholic Education, Cardinal Brady briefed his fellow bishops on the issue.
Dr Brady said the Pope also said ''that this was a time for deep examination of life here in Ireland, of the Church''.
Asked whether or not the Vatican was considering ordering an investigation into the situation in Ireland, another Vatican official said ''the issue is being discussed, but no final decision has been taken''.
The Holy See ordered a full-scale investigation of American seminaries in the wake of the US abuse scandals and senior Vatican officials are currently planning an inquiry in to convents in the US.
Soul searching
Archbishop Martin said the Church needed to ''listen and learn...and do a little bit of soul searching about what way the church in Ireland will look in years to come''.
It is understood that the Vatican is ''deeply disturbed'' at the fact that the fall-out from abuse has been ongoing in Ireland for more than 15 years and is concerned that the ongoing scandals limit the Church's missionary outreach.
According to another Vatican-based source: ''One of the reasons why the Pope wanted the next Eucharistic Congress [2012] to be in Ireland was to offer the Irish Church a real chance for renewal in the wake of such a devastating period.
''I think we're all very troubled by the fact that such an international occasion, could be marred by the fact that the Church is still struggling to deal with the historic legacy of abuse,'' he said.
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