A representative of survivors of child sexual abuse by Catholic priests has said Pope Benedict XVI must ensure that no bishop here has covered up scandals before they accept his apology to victims. John Kelly, of Survivors of Child Abuse, was responding to Archbishop Michael Neary's revelation that Pope Benedict had asked for the forgiveness of victims when he met the Irish hierarchy last week.
Meanwhile, the Bishop of Clonfert has said he hopes the Catholic Church worldwide will introduce a new process of reporting allegations of child sexual abuse by priests and religious to State authorities.
Dr John Kirby, speaking in Maynooth earlier today, also said that it was unfortunate that a culture of secrecy within the Church had been allowed to develop.
Speaking to RTÉ News, he said: 'We insist on confidentiality in all our dealings with priests and with people who have official dealings with us.
'And that secrecy unfortunately led to some sort of notion of cover up and that we were protecting our own people.
'That was not the original objective but unfortunately that became part of our culture.'+++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++
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SIC: RTÉ