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AUSTRALIA 
Pope to apologise to Australian priests' abuse victims
Thursday, 8 May, 2008
Some 123,000 pilgrims from overseas and within Australia have already registered for the July event, which will mark the first visit to Australia by Pope Benedict XVI. (AAP)
The Pope is set to make an apology in Sydney to the tens of thousands of Australians sexually and physically abused by Catholic priests.
Church sources have told News Limited there is a mounting expectation that Pope Benedict XVI will use his trip during World Youth Day in July to express his shame and regret over the church's long-running scandal.
He may also meet some of the victims.
Bishop of Maitland-Newcastle Michael Malone gave his backing for a papal apology and said the Pope had set a precedent by apologising to victims on a recent trip to the US.
"It's hard to believe that after making the sort of apology he did in America a few weeks ago that he would leave Australia without doing the same thing," said one Catholic source.
A spokesman for the organisers of World Youth Day, which runs for six days from July 13, declined to speculate on whether the Pope would issue a formal apology while in Australia.
Source: AAP/SBS
Church sources have told News Limited there is a mounting expectation that Pope Benedict XVI will use his trip during World Youth Day in July to express his shame and regret over the church's long-running scandal.
He may also meet some of the victims.
Bishop of Maitland-Newcastle Michael Malone gave his backing for a papal apology and said the Pope had set a precedent by apologising to victims on a recent trip to the US.
"It's hard to believe that after making the sort of apology he did in America a few weeks ago that he would leave Australia without doing the same thing," said one Catholic source.
A spokesman for the organisers of World Youth Day, which runs for six days from July 13, declined to speculate on whether the Pope would issue a formal apology while in Australia.
Source: AAP/SBS
