Pope Francis confirmed Wednesday he plans to attend a big Catholic family rally in Ireland in August, visiting a once staunchly Roman Catholic country that has been devastated by the church's sex abuse crisis. Francis made the long-awaited announcement at the end of his weekly general audience, saying he intends to go to Dublin Aug. 25-26 for the World Meeting of Families. It will be the first papal trip to Ireland since the explosion of sex abuse cases sorely compromised the Catholic Church's moral authority. The World Meeting of Families is a triennial rally aimed at encouraging the church's vision of a family based on marriage between man and woman. The Dublin organizers have come under fire from gay rights groups for removing references to homosexual relationships in conference promotional materials.

Source: ABC News March 21, 2018 10:06 UTC