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Pope speaks out on abuse scandal
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Pope Benedict is set to outline his plan for dealing with the child abuse scandal that has rocked the Catholic Church in Ireland to its foundations.
The pontiff's much-anticipated pastoral letter to congregations on the island will be published by the Vatican ahead of being read to mass-goers on Sunday.
While it is not clear if the message will include a formal apology, it will contain a number of measures to improve child protection procedures within the church.
It comes as embattled Irish primate Cardinal Sean Brady continues to resist calls to resign for his handling of historic abuse allegations that saw victims sign confidentiality deals.
While the cardinal has been under fire, his role in secrecy oaths taken by two victims of notorious paedophile cleric Father Brendan Smyth almost 35 years ago, the church has also been stunned with disclosures that two other accused priests agreed to pay £45,000 and £12,000 respectively to their alleged victims in out-of-court settlements.
These claims were all the more damaging as the legal deals included confidentiality clauses that the church of late has so publicly stated its opposition to.
This week's fresh scandals follow only months after state investigations in the Republic of Ireland unearthed a shocking litany of past clerical and institutional abuse against children.
Meanwhile, on the eve of the publication of the Pope`s letter, the leader of Catholics in England Wales insisted there is no statistical connection between the abuse of minors and a celibate way of life.
"Nor is there as far as I know any proven psychological connection between a way of celibacy and the abuse of children," Archbishop of Westminster the Most Rev Vincent Nichols said in an interview on Friday night.
