Women also covered up abuse, claims priest

A PRIEST in the Diocese of Ferns has launched a stinging attack accusing the “wives and mothers of Ireland” of failing to deal with the abuse of their children by other family members.

Fr Paddy Banville said: “There is another category of people that will match the failure of the bishops, and probably surpass it; the wives and mothers of Ireland, not exclusively wives and mothers but far too many who failed miserably to deal with the abuse of their children by other family members.

“In time, I believe Ireland will discover that there is nothing particularly unique in the Catholic bishop’s bungling attempts to deal with clerical abuse... In fact, I believe that covering up is a typical response to child abuse right across the board, at least until very recently.”