Survivors of abuse within the Roman Catholic church repeated their demand that the pope hand over all information on abusive clergy, in advance of his arrival in the UK tomorrow on a controversial state visit.
They told a press conference in central London today that repeated apologies meant nothing and they wanted "truth, justice and accountability". Peter Saunders, a survivor of Catholic abuse who is now the chief executive of the National Association for People Abused in Childhood (Napac), said: "We need the pope to say, 'I will hand over all the information I have about abusing priests wherever they are in the world. I will hand it over to the authorities of the countries where these people are being protected.'"
Saunders said the visit had drawn attention to "the absolutely outrageous conduct of the Catholic church in the UK and other parts of the world". He said many Catholics had been horrified by the abuse and should not be tarred "with the same brush".
Margaret Kennedy, of Minster and Clergy Sexual Abuse Survivors said: "I know what it is like to have a man in a collar invade you. The collar is meant to be a symbol of purity."