“Part of the present”

Irish Archbishop Diarmuid Martin wants Pope Francis to speak clearly on the ie of abuse. The head of the Catholic Church will be on 25. and 26. He will visit Ireland in August for the World Meeting of Families in Dublin.

It was important that the pope address the ie during his upcoming visit to Ireland not as part of church history but "as part of the present, because the wounds are there and new wounds are emerging," the archbishop of Dublin told broadcaster RTE on Saturday.

If asked two years ago, he probably would have talked about institutions and abuse by clerics, Martin continued. But today, there is the case of the so-called Magdalene Laundries, the Mother and Child Homes and "a whole host of other places where abuse emerges as a sad dimension of the development of the church," the archbishop said.

Planned conversation with abuse victims

Earlier, Martin had said Pope Francis might also talk to abuse victims during his visit. Before his trip, the archbishop said in June, he would "certainly" be thoroughly briefed on the history of abuse in Catholic institutions in the country. Possible meetings with those affected would likely be held "in secret" to respect people's anonymity.

A commission of inquiry into child abuse had concluded in a comprehensive report in 2009 that sexual assault and rape were "widespread" in more than 250 Irish Catholic Church care facilities between 1930 and 1990.

Inhumane conditions in homes

In the "Magdalene Laundries", which were run as homes for "fallen girls" by four Irish women's orders, more than 10 women lived there between 1922 and 1996, according to estimates.000 women. They were forced to perform hard unpaid work under adverse conditions. In 2012, a commission of inquiry had found that state authorities had awarded lucrative contracts to the homes without attention to enforcing pay for inmates and fair working conditions.