IRELAND
Belfast Telegraph
By Claire Regan
26 October 2005
Ulster's Catholic bishops were today considering the fall-out of a damning report which revealed the full horror of brutal clerical child abuse in the Diocese of Ferns in the Republic.
Archbishop of Armagh and Primate of All Ireland, Dr Sean Brady, apologised to "all those people who have suffered lasting hurt at the hands of abusers in the church".
The leading Catholic cleric said he was "deeply shocked and saddened" by the Republic government's probe into the activities of pervert priests in the Co Wexford diocese of Ferns over a 40-year period.
Former Supreme Court Judge Frank Murphy's damning report found that the church lied, deceived and covered up to protect 21 priests in the diocese who had faced more than 100 allegations of child sexual abuse.
"As priests they should have been protecting and nurturing the talents of these young people. The betrayal of trust is horrendous. Today the church is ashamed of its past failings regarding child protection," Dr Brady said.
And the Bishop of Derry, Dr Seamus Hegarty, was expected to released a statement, described as significant, to allay fears that the "country is crawling with priests who are paedophiles", his administrator Fr Michael Canny said this morning.