Bono has told how Pope Francis looked genuinely upset when they discussed clerical sex abuse in Ireland during their meeting in the Vatican yesterday.

"Inevitably, with me coming from Ireland we talked about the Pope's feelings about what has happened in the Church," Bono said in a statement issued via Reuters.

Bono said the Pontiff was "aghast about what has happened in the Church".

"I explained to him that it looks to some people that the abusers are being more protected than the victims. And you can see the pain in his face and I felt he was sincere. He is an extraordinary man for extraordinary times."

The U2 frontman spent 30 minutes with the Pope yesterday, discussing a wide range of topics, with everything from humanitarianism, education, and commerce being subjects on the table.

#PopeFrancis meets Wednesday with singer Paul David Hewson - #Bono Vox of @U2 fame - who expressed his support for the Pontifical Foundation Scholas Occurrentes and its mission to educate young people around the world. pic.twitter.com/4pWxdzyOCe

— Vatican News (@VaticanNews) September 19, 2018

Bono explained: "His Holiness was incredibly gracious with his time, his concentration, we let the conversation go where it wanted to go, themes like the future of commerce and how it might achieve sustainable development which is something the Pope is very committed to, as can be seen from his Laudato Si (environmental) encyclical.

"He agrees that we have to rethink the Wild Beast that is capitalism..."

They naturally discussed Bono's organisation One and its ongoing campaigns.

Bono also said in the statement: “I come from an organisation called One, we now have ten million members, three million of whom live in Africa, and one of our central themes at the moment is the fact that there are 130 million girls who don't go to school because they are girls.

"So we have a campaign called Poverty is Sexist and we are campaigning for education for all," Bono said.

"We haven't figured out what we are going to do together yet (with Scholas Occurentes) but we are Intrigued by what they are doing.

"It is very innovative stuff, very theatrical, education in a different frame, with people in their own communities, so it is from the macro to the micro."

More than machinery we need humanity. More than cleverness we need kindness and gentleness. Without these qualities, life will be violent and all will be lost….- The Great Dictator 1940#U2 #U2eiTour pic.twitter.com/xqoR98ALKB

— U2 (@U2) September 19, 2018