Pope Francis to set to meet survivors of clerical sexual abuse during his Irish trip.

Reuters quotes The Vatican as saying the Pontiff will do this as part of his World Meeting of Families visit here.

Spokesman Greg Burke told reporters the meeting will not be announced until after it is over.

He also said it will be up to the victims if they want to speak afterwards.

There had been calls for the Pope to meet victims as part of his two-day trip on August 25th and 26th.

In an open letter on Monday, he called on the church to be close to victims in solidarity, and to join in acts of prayer for those "atrocities".

He said the heart-wrenching pain of these victims was "long ignored, kept quiet or silenced."

He added: "With shame and repentance, we acknowledge as an ecclesial community that we were not where we should have been, that we did not act in a timely manner, realising the magnitude and the gravity of the damage done to so many lives.

"We showed no care for the little ones; we abandoned them."

He continued: "The extent and the gravity of all that has happened requires coming to grips with this reality in a comprehensive and communal way.

"While it is important and necessary on every journey of conversion to acknowledge the truth of what has happened, in itself this is not enough."