Last Updated: Friday - 09/24/2010

Pope, Irish bishops discuss abuse scandal

VATICAN CITY - Pope Benedict said priestly sexual abuse was a "heinous crime" and he urged Irish bishops to act courageously to repair their failures to deal properly with such cases.

At the end of a two-day summit on the sex abuse scandal in Ireland, the Vatican said in a statement Feb. 16 that "errors of judgment and omissions" were at the heart of the crisis.

It said Church leaders recognized the sense of "pain and anger, betrayal, scandal and shame" those errors have provoked among Irish Catholics.

"All those present recognized that this grave crisis has led to a breakdown in trust in the Church's leadership and has damaged her witness to the Gospel and its moral teaching."

In a news conference, Bishop Dennis Brennan of Ferns said the anger of victims and survivors toward the bishops "is richly deserved."

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