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Speaking at the mass, the Pope said the church should "weep and make reparation" for crimes that had taken on the dimensions of a sacrilegious cult.
"For some time now I have felt in my heart deep pain and suffering," he said.
"So much time hidden, camouflaged with a complicity that cannot be explained until someone realised that Jesus was looking.
"I ask for the grace to weep, the grace for the church to weep and make reparation for her sons and daughters who betrayed their mission, who abused innocent persons.
"Before God and his people I express my sorrow for the sins and grave crimes of clerical sexual abuse committed against you. And I humbly ask forgiveness."
Archbishop of Dublin Diarmuid Martin has said the Catholic Church must do more to help victims of clerical child sexual abuse.
Speaking at a conference in Rome this evening, he said the church must robustly respond to all those who have been affected by abuse.
He also said the church must be transformed into a place of healing for survivors of abuse
Archbishop Martin said bishops and superiors must ensure that survivors are made to feel welcome when they turn to church authorities.
Earlier, Pope Francis met survivors of clerical child sexual abuse, including two Irish victims, in the Vatican. The meetings, which were the first of their kind, took place in the guesthouse inside the Vatican where the Pontiff lives.
They followed sharp exchanges earlier this year between UN panels and the Holy See over the Catholic Church's cover-ups of many abuse scandals.
Pope Francis held one-to-one meetings with six guests: a female and a male survivor from Ireland, England and Germany
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