Pope Francis has issued a sweeping apology over the Catholics Church's mishandling of clerical child sex abuse.
He begged for forgiveness as he ended his two-day visit to Ireland on Sunday.
"We ask for forgiveness for the abuses in Ireland, the abuses of power, of conscience and the sexual abuses by Church officials in positions of responsibility in the Church….. We ask for forgiveness for all those times in which the Church has not demonstrated compassion towards the survivors of all types of abuse, and towards those looking for justice and truth and concrete action….."
Although his apology was well received by the congregation gathered at Phoenix Park, there were a few protests by groups representing the abuse survivors.
A former top-ranking Vatican official also called on Pope Francis to resign after releasing an 11-page letter claiming the pontiff knew about the abuses of the disgraced former archbishop of Washington, Cardinal Theodore McCarrick, years before they became public.
Archbishop Carlo Maria Vigano said the pope along with all the Vatican's top brass should step down for their failure to act on the abuses.
