THE Vatican has denied that its celibacy requirement for priests was the root cause of the clerical sex abuse scandal convulsing the Church in Europe and again defended the Pope’s handling of the crisis.

THE Bishop of Kerry, Dr Bill Murphy, has urged people, especially parents, to encourage vocations in young people.

VATICAN officials cited Church law that called for automatic excommunication in condemning China for appointing bishops without papal consent, but yesterday legal experts said the appointees may be spared formal censure because they may have been pressured.

The man appointed as a temporary replacement to Cardinal Thomas Winning has been named as Monsignor James Clancy.