Pope Francis admits Church abuse 'shame and pain' on Ireland visit

DUBLIN

Pope Francis said he shared in the "shame and pain" of the Catholic Church's "failure" to deal with years of sexual abuse scandals as he began a historic two-day visit to Ireland on Saturday.

"The failure of ecclesiastical authorities... to address these repellent crimes has rightly given rise to outrage and remains a source of pain and shame for the Catholic community. I myself share those sentiments," he said, standing next to Irish Prime Minister Leo Varadkar.