IRELAND
One in Four
Ferns diocese:
The findings of the Ferns Report were yesterday welcomed by the apostolic administrator of the diocese, Bishop Eamonn Walsh.
Bishop Walsh again apologised to all the victims of clerical sex abuse and pledged to work to ensure that no such abuse is allowed to happen in the diocese again.
Bishop Walsh paid tribute to Mr Justice Frank Murphy and his inquiry team for their painstaking work, but he also acknowledged the courage of those who came forward to recount their horrific stories of sexual abuse at the hands of some 21 priests in the diocese over the past 40 years.
"This report has horrific accounts, and although I've been dealing with this for years, when you read such a litany of horrible gross abuse and rape all condensed together, it leaves you speechless. I can't imagine the courage it took to come forward on the part of the people who did come forward," he said.