Pope Benedict XVI said today that he has written a letter to Catholics in Ireland that he hopes will encourage "repentance, healing and renewal" as they grapple with an expanding sex abuse scandal.

The Associated Press says the pope said to his weekly general audience at Vatican City that "I ask all of you to read it (the letter) for yourselves, with an open heart and in a spirit of faith. ... My hope is that it will help in the process of repentance, healing and renewal."

He made no mention of similar abuse scandals in his native Germany or elsewhere.

The AP adds that:

 

"Three Irish government-ordered investigations — into the Dublin Archdiocese, the southeast Irish diocese of Ferns, and a defunct network of Catholic workhouse-style schools for poor children — have documented a shocking catalog of child abuse and church cover-ups from the 1930s to 1990s involving more than 15,000 children."

From Ireland, The Independent reports today that "Dublin Archbishop Diarmuid Martin (has) admitted for the first time last night that a nationwide investigation into clerical sex abuse may be the only way for the truth to emerge about the scale of the scandal."

Also today, the BBC writes that "the head of the Catholic church in Ireland has apologized for his role in an alleged cover-up of child abuse. As a priest in 1975 Cardinal Sean Brady was at meetings where children signed vows of silence over complaints against paedophile priest Fr Brendan Smyth."

Yesterday, NPR's Rob Gifford reported for Morning Edition that despite the horrific scandal, "the church is so deeply woven into the fabric of Irish life, it is difficult for many ordinary Irish people to distance themselves from it":