Irish Bishops to Meet With Pope Again

Jesuit Father Federico Lombardi, director of the Vatican press office, confirmed today that the Pope has called Irish prelates to the Vatican for a Feb. 15-16 meeting.

Cardinal Sean Brady, archbishop of Armagh and president of the Irish episcopal conference, and Archbishop Diarmuid Martin of Dublin already met with the Holy Father last Dec. 11. They discussed the Murphy Commission Report, which details abuse cases in the Dublin Archdiocese from 1975 to 2004.

That report was published last November and it followed another, the Ryan report, which was released last May and detailed widespread child abuse in Catholic schools throughout the country.

After the December meeting, the Vatican reported that the Holy Father plans to write a pastoral letter to the Irish, "in which he will clearly indicate the initiatives that are to be taken in response to the situation."