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  140 More Priests Are Accused of Sex Abuse
Scandal-Hit Church Faces More Claims

By Michael Lavery
Belfast Telegraph [Ireland]
November 1, 2005

More than 140 priests in four dioceses have been accused of sex abuse but more revelations could be on the way as the scandal rocks the Catholic Church in Ireland.

The Ferns inquiry involved 21 priests, but since the report's publication, dozens more allegations have been confirmed by bishops.

They include Dublin (67 priests), Derry (26) and Tuam (27).

Some of the allegations go back to the 1940s, but the diocese in Tuam could turn out to be "on a par" with Ferns, given the similarity of the population of each diocese, said Colm O'Gorman, director of One in Four, a charity for sex abuse victims.

Mr O'Gorman said he found it remarkable that the bishops were only now making these figures available, even though in some cases they were available for the last 50 years.

In Tuam, eight clerics have left the priesthood after a "reasonable suspicion" that child abuse had taken place was established.

Three clerics from the Tuam area have already been convicted on horrific child sex abuse charges.

Claims have also been made against seven priests from other dioceses who served in Tuam.

The spotlight in the abuse scandal switched to Tuam, following a revelation that a priest was continuing to serve in the archdiocese after a formal complaint of rape was made.

The priest was asked to stand down by the Archbishop of Tuam, Dr Michael Neary, after a newspaper story last week.

In Dublin, where the next inquiry into child sex abuse by priests will take place, the real figure could turn out to be higher than 67.

A spokesman for the archdiocese said that the 67 priests against whom allegations have been made referred only to diocesan priests.

It did not include priests of religious congregations who may have abused there.

It has emerged that another priest from the west had been stood down.

In a statement read at Masses in churches where the priest served, the Bishop of Elphin, Bishop Christopher Jones, said the cleric had agreed to stand aside pending an investigation.

On Sunday, a parish priest was given Garda protection after verbal assaults on him during Mass in Co Wexford.

Members of the congregation were angry over revelations about the priest's predecessor in the Ferns Report.

Fr John Sinnott, who took over the parish of Ballindaggin from deceased paedophile Canon Martin Clancy in 1992, bore the brunt of the outbursts despite his innocence.

"I knew there would be some hassle. I know people are very hurt," he said.

A visibly upset Fr Sinnott said he was as shocked as they were to learn of the abuses committed by Canon Clancy, his superior for over 20 years.

Canon Clancy was named in the Ferns Report as a serial abuser who fathered a child by a 14-year-old girl.

 
 

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