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  Church Leaders Brace for 'Explosive' Ferns Abuse Report

By Dearbhail McDonald
The Times [Ireland]
July 3, 2005

THE Bishop of Ferns has warned church leaders to brace themselves for the publication of a report into clerical sex abuse in Wexford that has been described as "explosive".

Eamon Walsh has written to the leaders of Ireland's religious congregations asking them to pray for "a positive outcome", ahead of the publication of a state report into clerical sex scandals that rocked the diocese.

The letter, issued last month, asks the heads of the congregations to pray that the report, which is being reviewed by the church, victims and third parties, will be "proper".

Although it makes no reference to diocesan priests who abused children, it asks for justice for the victims and prays for "reconciliation".

The missive, interpreted by some religious sources as a pre-emptive strike ahead of the report's publication, has received a cautious welcome from victims of abuse in Ferns's parishes.

"We too share the bishop's hope for a positive outcome, but a positive outcome for whom?" said Colm O'Gorman of One in Four, a support group for victims of abuse that has assisted witnesses before the inquiry.

O'Gorman, who was abused by Sean Fortune, a Wexford priest who committed suicide while facing 66 charges of abuse, said: "We have sought that the truth be laid before the public, so that we as a society can confront and understand what happened. A positive outcome is ensuring that it never happens again."

The Ferns inquiry, led by Frank Murphy, a retired Supreme Court judge, is the first state inquiry into diocesan handling of clerical sex abuse allegations.

It is expected to be critical of Bishop Brendan Comiskey, who was forced to resign three years ago over his handling of known and suspected paedophile priests in the diocese.

It is also expected to castigate senior church figures, some deceased, gardai and health officials.

Individual clergy and gardai could even face prosecution for covering up widespread abuse in the diocese.

The church will face a second state investigation later this year into child sexual abuse by priests in the archdiocese of Dublin. Senior clerics, including Cardinal Desmond Connell, the former archbishop of Dublin, could be questioned in public about their responses to abuse complaints against priests in their charge.

The Ferns inquiry examined details of an alleged homosexual ring operating at St Peter's College, the closed seminary in Wexford where notorious paedophiles including Fortune, trained.

Sources close to the investigating team said they had been dismissed but the report is expected to confirm "explosive" new allegations of abuse in the diocese by priests unknown to the gardai.

"There's a lot more to come," said one witness who gave evidence to the inquiry. "It will make very difficult and challenging reading for the church. The sheer numbers involved are staggering. Many new witnesses came forward to report abuse by priests not known to the authorities and who have never been reported to them or the gardai."