Asked about the remarks by the pope in which he referred to the “repugnant crimes” of abuse, Mr Martin told reporters he would have liked to have heard more about the measures the Vatican intended to take. “We would have appreciated a greater focus on the actions that should follow,” said Mr Martin outside Dublin Castle after hearing Taoiseach Leo Varadkar and Pope Francis speak in their first public remarks of the pontiff’s visit to Ireland, the first by a pope since 1979. ‘Very forthright’Former taoiseach Bertie Ahern, who attended the Dublin Castle ceremony along with two other former taoisigh Brian Cowen and John Bruton, described the pope’s speech as “very forthright” and “very clear.”Pope Francis and the Taoiseach Leo Varadkar at Dublin Castle. So that’s all a man could do,” Mr Ahern told The Irish Times departing Dublin Castle. Mr Bruton said he felt the pope made “a very firm statement” on clerical sex abuse and the Church’s handling of the scandal.

Source: The Irish Times August 25, 2018 15:06 UTC