Irish bishop scandal

The talks, which are to last two days, stem from a report last November about unchecked child abuse in the archdiocese of Dublin over a period of nearly 30 years.

The Murphy Commission report detailed a litany of abuse perpetuated by priests against more than 300 victims and strongly criticized the Irish church's handling of the situation.

Four Irish bishops have already resigned in the wake of the child sex abuse scandal.

In December, Pope Benedict expressed his "outrage, shame and profound regret" over the Murphy Commission's revelations and said he would take clear measures in response to the situation. A letter from the pontiff was expected to be published soon after his talks with the Irish bishops.

Church 'seriously damaged'

Joseph Duffy, the bishop of Clogher in Ireland, said the role of the pedophile priests had seriously damaged the Church.

"The Church has been seriously wounded and we are in a very serious situation. This has done immense damage to the authority of the Church as the mouthpiece of the gospel of Jesus Christ, and of that there is no doubt. Our business is to try to repair that damage," Bishop Duffy said.

The Irish crisis comes on the heels of a scandal in Germany, where an elite Jesuit school in Berlin admitted to sexual abuse of teenagers by teachers during the 1970s and 80s.

Revelations of pedophile priests also have rocked the Church in recent months after similar scandals in the United States and Australia.

Vatican warns of 'loss of faith'

Vatican Secretary of State, Cardinal Tarcisio Bertone, said on Monday that the scandal could be overcome by faith. But, he warned that the loss of confidence and trust in the Church was an "even more dangerous storm" and that people could "lose faith in God, through discouragement and despair."

Bishop Duffy said that to restore that trust the Church would be focusing on the victims.

"We will certainly be keeping the survivors at the top of the list of priorities. I imagine hardly any bishop will fail to mention survivors as his primary concern in all of this most serious business," he said.

Anti-abuse campaigners, meanwhile, have called on Pope Benedict to visit Ireland to meet the victims of the pedophile scandal.

Christine Buckley, herself an abuse survivor, said the Pope had gone to the United States and Australia to apologize and should do the same in Ireland. She also criticized that many of the accused Irish priests had left Ireland and gone to countries such as Australia and America, where they continued their abuse.

gb/dpa/AP/AFP
Editor: Chuck Penfold