Pope Summons Irish Bishops to Rome Once Again: Pastoral Letter to be released.

Such a high level and personal second meeting in less than two months is extraordinary. The claim of a second meeting has now been confirmed.

ROME (Catholic Online) - The Irish Times carried an article on January 20, 2010 written by the papers reliable Rome correspondents Jason Michael and Paddy Agnew. The article claimed that Pope Benedict XVI has once again summoned Irish Bishops to Rome in the wake of the Ryan and Murphy Reports.

Such a high level and personal second meeting in less than two months is extraordinary. The claim of a second meeting has now been confirmed by the director of the Vatican Press Office, Fr. Federico Lombardi. Irish Bishops will meet with the Pope on February 15 and 16, 2010.

Last December 11, 2009 the Pope met with Archbishop Diarmuid Martin of Dublin and Cardinal Sean Brady, the President of the Irish Bishops Conference and Archbishop of Armagh. The topic of that meeting was the horrible revelations of abuse in the Dublin Archdiocese between 1975 and 2004, as disclosed in the Murphy Commission Report, and in Catholic Schools, as disclosed in the Ryan Report.

Though details of this next meeting are sketchy, what is crystal clear is the deep level of concern that such multiple personal meetings between the Pope and Irish Bishops reveals. After the last meeting, the Holy Father indicated through a spokesman that he would release a Pastoral Letter addressed to the faithful of Ireland on the matter. Reports indicate that the letter will be released before Lent begins next month.

Sources indicate that copies of the Holy Father's letter are now circulating in the Vatican for review. It is pastoral in nature and meant to encourage the faithful of Ireland by focusing them on the crucial role of the Irish Church in the spread of the Catholic faith in the past. It calls them to healing, rededication and a new missionary effort.

Here is a portion of the report from the Irish Times concerning this second meeting with Irish Bishops:

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"Pope Benedict has summoned the Irish bishops to Rome to discuss the clerical abuse scandal. According to the Irish Catholic newspaper, the pontiff has called the meeting next month because of what is perceived as a very serious situation in Ireland.

"It is believed the Vatican is keen to attempt to address the anger and shock felt by Catholics since the publication of the Ryan and Murphy reports into clerical abuse.

"The Irish Catholic reported the key meetings between the bishops and the Pope will take place on February 15th and 16th, and will be similar in nature to Pope Benedict's meeting with Cardinal Seán Brady and Archbishop Diarmuid Martin on December 11th, with several senior Vatican officials also attending.

"It is expected that proposals on dealing with the fallout from the abuse scandal will be put forward, with conclusions offered by the pope.

"The bishops will return to their dioceses for the Ash Wednesday liturgies on February 17th where they will address congregations on the way forward.

"Draft versions of the pope's forthcoming pastoral letter to the Irish faithful have begun to circulate in the Holy See, Vatican insiders have reported.

"Initial indications are that the letter will not be overly concerned with the current administrative, bureaucratic and organizational problems of the Irish church. Rather, it is expected to offer encouragement to the faithful, reminding them of the crucial role of the early Irish church in the spread of Christianity.

"The pastoral letter, a highly unusual papal initiative announced by the pope himself following a Vatican meeting with Cardinal Seán Brady and Archbishop Diarmuid Martin early last month, represents a comprehensive and formal response by Pope Benedict not just to the fallout of the Murphy report, but also to the overall implications of the Irish church's 15-year long clerical sex abuse crisis.

"The Murphy report, published in November, dealt with how the Dublin archdiocese handled complaints of sexual abuse of children by priests. The report said the archdiocese had had an "obsessive concern with secrecy and the avoidance of scandal" and had "little or no concern for the welfare of the abused child".
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We invite our readers throughout the world to pray for the victims who suffered from this horrid abuse. We also urge prayers for our brothers and sisters in the Church in Ireland who have been scandalized and wounded by this entire matter.

Finally, we ask for prayers for the Holy Father, Pope Benedict XVI. As Vicar of Christ and successor of Peter, may the Holy Spirit work through him to bring healing and promote restoration to this beleagured church in a Nation which has given birth to so many great Saints and Missionaries. May the Pope of this new missionary age inspire a new missionary spirit in the Church of Ireland.

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