A woman who was abused for 10 years in the diocese of Clogher said he latest report from the Church’s child protection watchdog illustrates “how unsupportive” Bishop Joseph Duffy was to clerical abuse victims.

A judgment is expected in the coming weeks on whether a Cork priest is to be defrocked by a secret ecclesiastical court because of sex abuse in the Diocese of Cloyne.

The Association of Catholic Priests has called for changes to be made to the guidelines on standing aside priests accused of abuse from ministry.

The Church’s child protection watchdog has warned the Government to urgently update data protection laws so gardaí can fully inform bishops and child protection workers in the Church about abuse allegations made directly to the Garda Síochána.

The Bishop of Clonfert has denied claims he had known that a priest he had moved from his parish due to child sex allegations had gone on to abuse children elsewhere.

A long-serving bishop has sparked a storm of controversy over his fitness for the job after revealing he once thought paedophilia was “friendship gone too far”.

A total of 18 allegations of sexual abuse were made against 10 priests in the Diocese of Kildare and Leighlin over the past 37 years.

An abuser from within the Dominican Friars played a role in national initiatives of the Catholic Church to improve responses to child abuse.

Three priests convicted of child abuse in the UK retired to the diocese of Cork and Ross, according to the Catholic Church’s child protection watchdog.

Five priests in the Diocese of Limerick, who were cleared by gardaí of child sexual abuse allegations, have been refused permission to return to ministry, according to the audit carried out by the National Board for Safeguarding Children in the Catholic Church (NBSCCC).

A long-serving bishop has sparked a storm of controversy over his fitness for the job after revealing he used to think paedophilia was friendship gone too far.

Barnardos chief executive Fergus Finlay has described as "a childish excuse" comments from Bishop of Clonfert John Kirby that he previously regarded paedophilia as a "friendship that crossed a boundary line".

Ian Elliot, the head of the Catholic Church's own watchdog on child protection measures, has detailed the policies now in place to prevent child abuse.

The Bishop of Clonfert has today apologised for moving two priests from one parish to another in the 1990s after they abused children.

Investigations into child protection practices in the diocese of Cork and Ross, Limerick, Clonfert and Kildare, and Leighlin will be published by the Church today.

A total of 237 new abuse allegations were reported to the National Board for Safeguarding Children in the Catholic Church (NBSCCC) in the year to the end of March.

The apostolic visitation report strongly underlines the need for the Catholic Church to continue listening to and providing counselling services to the thousands of people abused in its care.

Refusing to acknowledge the progress made by Church in hnadling abuse claims does a disservice to its watchdog, writes, Micheal Kelly

OF the 18 priests who have been accused of child sexual abuse in the diocese of Tuam since 1975, just two have been convicted.

Eight Catholic priests were convicted of child sexual abuse in six dioceses over a 35-year period, it emerged today.

In the Diocese of Ardagh and Clonmacnois, just one priest (not pictured) has been convicted of clerical sex abuse over the last 35 years, auditors revealed today.

Despite seven allegations of abuse against priests in the Diocese of Kilmore, an audit has found child protection measures are a model of best practice within the Church.

Archbishop Michael Neary’s predecessors in the Archdiocese of Tuam were defensive, internally focused and lacked awareness of victims’ suffering, a Catholic Church review has found.

Three bishops made significant errors of judgment when allegations of child sexual abuse were made against priests, a Catholic Church watchdog has found.

Six separate reports on child protection measures in Catholic dioceses in Ireland will be published today.

Six separate reports on child protection measures in Catholic dioceses in Ireland will be published tomorrow.

CORI’S representative on the National Board for Safeguarding Children in the Catholic Church (NBSCCC) resigned as a director of the board just days before the watchdog began investigating his own order’s implementation of child protection guidelines.

THE CHURCH’S National Board for Safeguarding Children in the Catholic Church (NBSCCC) has begun two investigations into the handling of child protection complaints by the Sacred Heart Missionaries.

In 2008, Bishop John Magee and his cohort asserted their commitment to child protection. After the release of the Cloyne report, his words seem insincere, writes Claire O’Sullivan

Abuse victim: Elaine’s story

COMPULSORY reporting of child abuse, even by doctors and by priests hearing confession, will be required under new plans unveiled yesterday by Government.

THE body charged with safeguarding children in the Catholic Church has said all the country’s bishops are participating in the church’s audit into child protection practices, despite media reports to the contrary.

THE DATA Protection Commissioner has refuted claims by Catholic bishops that an audit of the Church’s child protection practices is being impeded by laws restricting access to sensitive personal information.

A NEW rift is emerging between the Catholic Church and the group monitoring its child protection policies after Dublin’s Archbishop Diarmuid Martin attacked the independent board for being too “negative”.

THE Catholic Church’s child protection tsar, Ian Elliott, was on the verge of resigning in the past year after a review of child protection standards in the country’s 26 dioceses was halted because the Church refused to co-operate.

The Minister for Children Frances Fitzgerald has said she is very disappointed that Church Authorities did not fully co-operate with the National Board for the Safeguarding of Children in the Catholic Church.

The body responsible for reviewing the protection of children within the Catholic Church has said its work has been hampered by the under-reporting of abuse by Church authorities.

THE Catholic Church’s child protection watchdog is to meet Archbishop Diarmuid Martin this week over his claims that strong forces within the Church were still trying to hide the truth about paedophile priests.

ALMOST 200 new allegations of child abuse by priests and members of religious orders were reported to the Catholic Church’s child protection watchdog in the past year.

The senior cleric asked by the Pope to run the Diocese of Cloyne has said that he wants to restore trust and do everything he can to help the victims of clerical sex abuse in the Co Cork diocese.

Senior Catholic Church clerics who fail to blow the whistle on suspected paedophile priests will be reported to the authorities, a religious watchdog warned today.

VICTIMS’ groups have expressed shock at how an audit of child protection measures was considered acceptable despite religious dioceses skipping the only section which questioned bishops’ handling of actual abuse cases.

WHATEVER reasoning was used by Minister for Children and Youth Affairs Barry Andrews, when he decided not to immediately publish a Department of Health commissioned report into how allegations of child sexual abuse were handled by the Diocese of Cloyne, it stinks to high heaven.