The first lay person to assume the position of child protection officer in the Catholic diocese of Cloyne has resigned in a dispute over the handling by Bishop William Crean of the case of defrocked priest Dan Duane.

Fr Tony Flannery was officially silenced and told to withdraw from public ministry by the Vatican in 2012.

The country’s bishops refused to meet with six Irish priests silenced by the Vatican claiming their predicament was not an issue for the Irish hierarchy as the priests were members of religious orders and not diocesan priests.

Pope Benedict XVI has a reputation as a charming and shy man who is also deeply conservative in his outlook and teaching.

TONY Flannery must have committed some terrible crimes. He is a Redemptorist priest of nearly 50 years standing, who says he is being threatened with ex-communication from the church he has served all his adult life.

There is “no question” of Fr Tony Flannery facing excommunication, senior Vatican sources have told The Irish Catholic newspaper.

A representative of Catholic lay group We Are Church Ireland (WACI) is due to hand in a letter of protest today to the Vatican’s watchdog on doctrinal orthodoxy demanding it lift its censure of five Irish priests.

High-profile priest Father Brian D’Arcy, who has been censured by the Vatican for his writings, warned today that the creation of a “veil of secrecy” worked against efforts to prevent clerical child abuse.

Fr Brian D’Arcy has told of the pain he’s been living with because of his censure by the Vatican.

An Irish priest censured by the Vatican spoke today of his distress over the disciplinary action.

The public read with dismay the media accounts of Redemptorist priest Fr Tony Flannery being muzzled by the Vatican. He has done much good in his life.

Gay rights campaigners in Britain today rejected reported claims by the Vatican’s second-in-command that child sex abuse by priests is linked to homosexuality.

The Vatican, dragged deeper than ever into the clergy sex abuse scandal, is launching a legal defence that it hopes will shield the Pope from a US lawsuit seeking to have him answer questions under oath.

LILYBAEUM no longer exists.

Pressure was mounting tonight for the resignation of senior clerics who shielded paedophile priests to protect the reputation of the Catholic Church.

REGARDING your report headlined ‘Pope orders disciplinary measures on priest over sex scandal’ (September 9), I would like to make a number of points.

Those in the running to succeed Pope John Paul II are known as the “papabili” – those worthy of becoming Pontiff. Prominent among them are:

Thousands of people were evacuated today as California firefighters battled to save homes from a wildfire that grew rapidly during the night.

FOOD and agri group IAWS is considerably undervalued by the market and is set to deliver 17-18% earnings per share growth this year, according to an analyst.