Ahern bids to clarify comments on Church

THE Taoiseach yesterday moved to clarify comments he made about the Catholic Church that were interpreted by opposition parties and victims’ organisations as a failure on his part to absorb the serious nature of the findings of the Ferns Report.

Mr Ahern, speaking in Athlone yesterday, said that media reports of his comments had honed in on his response to Liz O’Donnell’s outspoken condemnation of the Catholic Church, and particularly his defence of All Hallows and the Church’s record in education in Irish society.

The reports had not given the appropriate prominence, said the Taoiseach, to other remarks he had made during the course of a speech on Thursday, including his acknowledgment that many people felt “betrayed” and “disappointed” by the church’s handling of sex abuse cases.