Archbishop Paul Cremona tonight had a meeting lasting more than two hours with seven men who claim they were victims of child abuse by members of the clergy.

Lou Bondi, a spokesman for the meeting, described the event as an emotional one during which the Archbishop heard each of the men explain what he went through and understood their trauma.

More meetings will be held as necessary, and the Archbishop invited the men to take their families along.

During tonight's meeting the men handed the Archbishop a letter with a formal request to meet the Pope. The letter will be passed on to the Holy See.

Sign up to our free newsletters

Get the best updates straight to your inbox:
Please select at least one mailing list.

You can unsubscribe at any time by clicking the link in the footer of our emails. We use Mailchimp as our marketing platform. By subscribing, you acknowledge that your information will be transferred to Mailchimp for processing.