Catholic church abuse victim on meeting the Pope

Irish survivors of Catholic abuse who held a private meeting with the Pope yesterday have said he appeared to have no knowledge of the notorious Magdalene Laundries, where women who had children outside marriage were locked up and their babies taken from them.

On the second day of his visit to Ireland, where he went to a shrine and gave mass to huge crowds in a rainy Phoenix Park, he listed different types of abuse perpetrated by the church and asked for forgiveness for each one.

He also called for the need to be “firm and decisive” in the pursuit of justice against abusers.