One of the most senior members of the Catholic Church in Ireland has called on thousands of pilgrims to remember victims of clerical abuse.As 50 protesters picketed the RDS where the 50th Eucharistic Congress opened on Sunday, Archbishop of Dublin Diarmuid Martin reflected on the "darker side" of the Church.
"The 50 years since the Second Vatican Council have brought many graces to the Church in Ireland," said Archbishop Martin. "But those 50 years have also been marked with a darker side, of sinful and criminal abuse and neglect of those weakest in our society: children, who should have been the object of the greatest care and support and Christ-like love."
As the Archbishop made his opening address, clerical abuse victim campaigners Irish Survivors of Child Abuse (Irish SOCA) staged a peaceful protest at the gates of the RDS, where the Eucharistic Congress is being held over the next week.
They were calling for the resignation of Cardinal Sean Brady - Primate of All Ireland - who was one of a number of Church officials who was made aware of sex abuse being carried out by paedophile priest Brendan Smyth.
Irish SOCA co-ordinator John Kelly said the Eucharistic Congress was a chance for the Catholic Church to move forward - but that could not happen until the Cardinal resigns.
"The Cardinal's refusal to resign is a flagrant contradiction of the March 2010 Pastoral Letter to the Catholics of Ireland by Pope Benedict XVI - at section 11 wherein the Pope takes his 'Brother Bishops' to task for their historical failures and grave errors of judgment in dealing with the crime of child abuse," said Mr Kelly.
"The Pope himself stated that all this has seriously undermined your credibility and effectiveness and we say those words apply most appropriately to Cardinal Sean Brady."
The congress, which is held once every four years and in a different country, is likely to attract around 25,000 pilgrims every day, more than a quarter of whom are expected to have travelled from abroad.
It was last held in Ireland in 1932 when the Catholic Church in Ireland held a firm grasp over the Irish people.
However, its reputation has diminished over recent years following several state inquiries that revealed decades of abuse and cover-ups by Church hierarchy and state authorities.