Pope Francis has met victims of abuse and mistreatment in Ireland, telling them that those who abuse children were the equivalent of human excrement.
He spent 90 minutes speaking with eight Irish survivors of clerical, religious and institutional abuse during the first papal visit to Ireland since 1979.
The Pontiff told of the two abuse survivors that 'those involved in corruption and cover up within the church are 'caca", with his translator clarifying: 'Literally filth as one sees in the toilet'.
Pope Francis spoke with the group before attending a Festival of Families celebration yesterday at Croke Park Stadium in Dublin, where he received a standing ovation after telling the 82,500-strong crowd that 'to hate is human, to forgive is divine'.
He was greeted by enthusiastic nuns hoisting papal flags and performing Mexican waves at the event, where he stressed the importance of family, and warned people of the 'threat' social media poses to relationships.
He said social media should 'never become a threat to the real life relationships by imprisoning us in a virtual reality and isolating us from the very real relationships that challenge us to grow.
'When you use social media too much you go into a sort of an orbit when, at the dinner table, instead of talking to each other within the family, each of you uses his phone to connect with the outside world.
'You go into an orbit. This is dangerous. Why? Because it takes away the completeness of the family and... takes us to a fuzzy life without any substance.'
An estimated 82,500 people turned out to Dublin's Croke Park Stadium on Saturday evening for the Festival of Families. The concert-type event was held to mark the end of the World Meeting of Families 2018, including performances by Andrea Bocelli, The Riverdance Troupe, Nathan Carter, Dana Masters and Daniel O'Donnell
Not all guests at the event were enthralled by the pope's speech, as some children on stage yawned and struggled to keep awake
Pope Francis told those at the Festival of Families: 'In every society, families generate peace, because they teach the virtues of love, acceptance and forgiveness that are the best antidote to the hatred, prejudice and vengeance that can poison the life of individuals and communities'
The pope also advised families that to get along in life, they needed to repeat three words: 'sorry', 'please' and 'thank you'. He said it was important that family members made peace with each other before going to bed at night
'When you use social media too much you go into a sort of an orbit when, at the dinner table, instead of talking to each other within the family, each of you uses his phone to connect with the outside world,' the animated pontiff said
Andrea Bocelli performs during the Festival of Families in Croke Park Stadium in Dublin, Ireland, on Saturday, August 25
Nuns listen intently to Pope Francis at the two-hour-long festival, which was choreographed as a celebration of family life, featuring music, song, dance, and spoken word
Grandparents were praised as a 'treasury of experience and wisdom for the new generation' by the pontiff, who added, 'it is a big mistake not to ask the elderly about their experience or to think that talking to them is a waste of time'
Pope Francis waves and shakes hands with some in the audience as he leaves after attending the Festival of Families at Croke Park during his visit to Dublin
Windy: Bodyguards surrounding the pope help to put his cape back in place after a gust blows it over his head as he leaves the stadium in Dublin
The evening included a performance of Riverdance by 500 children from dance schools around Ireland, and entertainment from local and international artists – joined by an orchestra of more than 50 musicians – including Andrea Bocelli.
The two-hour-long festival was choreographed as a celebration of family life, featuring music, song, dance, and spoken word.
The pope arrived at Croke Park for the mammoth festival flanked by burly bodyguards, after spending 90 minutes speaking with eight Irish survivors of abuse. The private meeting was hosted at the Papal Nuncio's residence in Dublin, hours after he acknowledged that Irish people had a right to be outraged by the church's response to the crimes.
The enthusiastic crowd's standing ovation rounded off the pope's first day in Ireland, which has seen him speak of his 'pain and shame' at the 'grave scandal' of clerical sex abuse amid protests over the Catholic Church scandal – as thousands of admirers crowded the streets of Dublin to wave and watch him go by in his custom-made Popemobile.
Who's with me? This nun tries to encourage others to take part in a Mexican wave, while awaiting the arrival of Pope Francis at the Festival of Families in Dublin. Nuns from the Sisters of Nazareth, Sister Francis Kelly and Sister Celine went to Ireland for the event and said the concert was the perfect end to an excellent week
Nuns looking happy and getting into the spirit of the festival, while awaiting the arrival of Pope Francis at Croke Park Stadium in Dublin
Surrounded by burly bodyguards as he enters Croke Park in his golf buggy, Pope Francis acknowledges the mammoth crowd
Surrounded by bodyguards, Pope Francis greets people upon his arrival at Croke Park, Dublin, on August 25
The two-hour festival was choreographed as a celebration of family life, with music, song, dance, and spoken word
Pope Francis waves to the mammoth crowd as he arrives at the Croke Park Stadium in Dublin, on Saturday, August 25, while on a two-day visit to Ireland
Pope Francis waves to an audience of 82,500 at Croke Park Stadium in Dublin during the Festival of Families event in Ireland
Selfie sticks were banned, along with flares, professional cameras and alcohol - but this lucky young woman managed to get an extra-special photo with Pope Francis on her phone
The festival programme included community-based artists as well as some well-known local and international artists, including Andrea Bocelli, joined by an orchestra of over 50 musicians and contemporary dancers
The pontiff said victims had a right to be outraged at the 'repellent crimes' against young people, while Ireland's prime minister Leo Varadkar urged him to 'listen to the victims', saying the history of abuse had left a legacy of 'sorrow and shame'.
The Vatican says Pope Francis has met with eight survivors of clerical and institutional abuse on the first day of his trip to Ireland, which is ground zero for the Catholic Church's abuse scandal.
Vatican spokesman Greg Burke said Francis met with the group for about 90 minutes this evening. Among the victims was Marie Collins, a prominent survivor who served on Francis' advisory board but quit in frustration last year. She has since become a harsh critic of the Vatican, and occasionally the pope.
Holding a papal flag, this girl also attended tonight's Festival of Families, a special concert-type event
Croke Park, Dublin: Pope Francis is the 266th Catholic Pope and current sovereign of the Vatican. His visit, the first by a pope since John Paul II's in 1979, was expected to attract hundreds of thousands of Catholics to a series of events in Dublin and Knock
The crowd gestures upon the arrival of Pope Francis to attend the Festival of Families at Croke Park Stadium in Dublin on August 25. An estimated 82,500 attended the event
A sea of arms as scores of people wave frantically at Pope Francis as he visits Dublin today. During his two-day visit he has held private meetings with victims of sexual abuse by Catholic clergy
Fancy footwork as young dancers, some of the 500 representing Irish dance schools across the country, performed on stage for the pope at the Festival of Families
More aerial manoeuvres at Dublin's Croke Park - part of a strong line-up of creative and performance talent in a cast of thousands
The crowds and performers at the Festival of Families event, attended by an estimated 82,500 people in Dublin. The celebration of family life heard a number of tributes and testimonials about the importance of prioritising the role of families, especially those with young children
The 81-year-old landed in Dublin this morning on an Alitalia flight from Rome – flying with the call sign 'Shepherd One' – to begin the first visit by a Pope to Ireland since John Paul II visited in 1979.
He greeted a country where Catholic loyalties are declining and which recently distanced itself further from the Vatican's teaching with a referendum vote to legalise abortion, three years after similar backing for same-sex marriage. This afternoon he met Ireland's first gay prime minister.
Tens of thousands gathered in Dublin as he passed through in his Popemobile, a Skoda Rapid model, waving and smiling to the crowds on Dame Street. But demonstrators also assembled around the city to protest against clerical crimes, amid a row over the Vatican's response to similar claims of institutional abuse in America.
Well-wishers line the streets as Pope Francis travels through the streets of Dublin in his Popemobile on his visit to Ireland
Pope Francis delivers a speech in St Patrick's Hall at Dublin Castle where he spoke about sex abuse in the Catholic Church, saying he felt 'pain and shame' at the failure of church authorities to tackle the 'grave scandal' of clerical abuse in Ireland
The 81-year-old Pope Francis waves from his car at Dublin International Airport as he begins the first papal visit to Ireland since John Paul II went to the country in 1979
The pope's cape blows in the wind as he walks down the steps of his plane in Dublin today
Speaking at St Patrick's Hall in Dublin Castle, the Pope said: 'With regard to the most vulnerable, I cannot fail to acknowledge the grave scandal caused in Ireland by the abuse of young people by members of the church charged with responsibility for their protection and education,' he said.
'The failure of ecclesiastical authorities - bishops, religious superiors, priests and others - adequately 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.'
'It is my hope that the gravity of the abuse scandals, which have cast light on the failings of many, will serve to emphasise the importance of the protection of minors and vulnerable adults on the part of society as a whole,' he said.
He also praised his predecessor, Benedict XVI, for tackling the issue, saying: 'His frank and decisive intervention continues to serve as an incentive for the efforts of the church's leadership both to remedy past mistakes and to adopt stringent norms meant to ensure that they do not happen again.'
Mr Varadkar said he hoped the papal visit would mark a 'new chapter' in Ireland's relationship with the Catholic Church.
In his speech to the pope at Dublin Castle, he said both church and state had a history of 'sorrow and shame,' and he urged the pope to ensure that victims of sex abuse find 'justice and truth and healing'.
Varadkar cited the recent Pennsylvania grand jury report, which found 300 priests had abused more than 1,000 children over 70 years in six dioceses, in urging Francis to 'ensure that from words flow actions'.
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'In recent weeks, we have all listened to heart-breaking stories from Pennsylvania of brutal crimes perpetrated by people within the Catholic Church, and then obscured to protect the institution at the expense of innocent victims,' Varadkar said. 'It's a story all too tragically familiar here in Ireland.'
The taoiseach added: 'The Ireland of the 21st century is a very different place today than it was in the past. Ireland is increasingly diverse.
'One in six of us were not born here and there are more and more people who adhere to other faiths, or who are comfortable in declaring that they subscribe to no organised religion.
'We have voted in our parliament and by referendum to modernise our laws – understanding that marriages do not always work, that women should make their own decisions and that families come in many forms including those headed by a grandparent, lone parent or same-sex parents or parents who are divorced.'
He added: 'Holy Father, I believe that the time has now come for us to build a new relationship between church and state in Ireland – a new covenant for the 21st century. It is my hope that your visit marks the opening of a new chapter in the relationship between Ireland and the Catholic Church.
'Building on our intertwined history, and learning from our shared mistakes, it can be one in which religion is no longer at the centre of our society, but in which it still has an important place.'
The Popemobile and its convoy drive through the streets of Dublin today greeted by cheering crowds of well-wishers
Pope Francis waves to the faithful on his popemobile in Dublin where thousands of people greeted the 81-year-old pontiff
Pope Francis greets the public as he travels through the city in the Popemobile, a converted Skoda Rapid, on Saturday
Pope Francis waves to admirers as his Popemobile carries the 81-year-old pontiff through the streets of Dublin today
Pope Francis travels in the Popemobile as he passes the General Post Office (GPO) in Dublin on Saturday
It came as the head of Ireland's Catholic church said the Pope was facing an 'impossible task' to address grievances over historic sexual abuse.
Pope Francis has said he will meet with victims of clerical sex abuse in private, but protesters have gathered near Dublin Castle following criticism of the Vatican for its slow response to claims of systemic abuse in Pennsylvania.
Archbishop Eamon Martin said survivors were carrying a 'trauma' which the Pope's visit would not be able to heal, Sky News reported. 'We have no right to think that we can leave it behind us,' he said.
Francis is ostensibly in Ireland to attend the World Meeting of Families (WMOF) - a major global church event focused on promoting family values.
However, he will also fulfil a number of other engagements, including his meetings today with President Michael D Higgins and the joint speeches with Mr Varadkar.
With Ireland in the midst of a high-profile homelessness problem, the Pope was this afternoon to meet with a number of affected individuals during a private visit to families at the Capuchin Day Centre, run by a religious order that provides over 700 meals a day.
Tens of thousands of people were expected to line the streets of Dublin city centre on Saturday afternoon as he passes through in his famous Popemobile.
He passed close to the site of a former Magdalene laundry as he arrived on Sean McDermott Street in the north inner city to meet well-wishers outside Our Lady of Lourdes Church.
The notorious laundry institutions run by Catholic religious orders effectively incarcerated thousands of young women from troubled backgrounds and forced them to work under harsh conditions.
In 1979, Pope John Paul II was due to visit Our Lady of Lourdes church but famously failed to stop when his Popemobile tour of city fell behind schedule.
The present pontiff continued to St Mary's Pro-Cathedral where he spoke to local couples after praying at an altar which houses a perpetually lit candle for the victims of sexual abuse.
The Pope said that looking at the congregation comprising hundreds of young couples, he questioned those that claimed people no longer wanted to get married.
'Getting married and sharing your lives is a beautiful thing,' he told them.
In the evening, he will join 82,000 pilgrims at a musical festival in the landmark Croke Park Gaelic Athletic Association stadium.
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