Executive Director of One in Four Maeve Lewis has said they are disappointed by the letter and said it falls far short of addressing the concerns of victims of clerical abuse.
She said: 'Pope Benedict has passed up a glorious opportunity to address the core issue in the clerical sexual abuse scandal: the deliberate policy of the Catholic Church at the highest levels to protect sex offenders, thereby endangering children.
'The Pope speaks on only of failures in the Irish Church, and neglects the role of the Vatican. If the Church cannot acknowledge this fundamental truth, it is still in denial.'
'We are astounded at the Pope's assertion that the roots of clerical sexual abuse lie in the secularisation Irish society, the falling off of religious devotion and failures to adhere to cannon law.
'This shows a complete misunderstanding of the dynamics of sexual violence, and creates little hope that the Church will ever respond effectively to the problem.'
Abuse survivor Andrew Madden has said that on first reading the letter 'failed to address this issue at all seriously'.
In a statement Mr Madden said: 'The context is of course inappropriate, as by its very definition a pastoral letter is addressed only to practicing Catholics and so ignores many other people who may in some way have been affected by this issue.
'A pastoral letter is not the way to respond to the Ferns, Ryan & Murphy Reports detailing the rape, abuse and sexual abuse of children by priests and religious in this country and its cover up by Church authorities.
'As I had anticipated the letter also fails to address any of the issues raised by myself and others in our open letter to the Pope last month, in advance of the Irish Bishops' trip to Rome.'+++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++
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SIC: RTÉ