A former priest of the Cloyne Diocese, defrocked by the church in Ireland for sexually abusing children, has failed in his appeal to Pope Francis against the decision.

Announcing the outcome, the dioceses expressed regret that the action against Dan Duane, from Mallow, Co Cork took more than two years to complete.

Mr Duane, who is 76, had appealed a March 2013 decision by an internal church court here to dismiss him from clerical ministry.

But the Vatican Supreme Court, the Apostolic Signatura, has rejected the appeal.

The court which made the initial decision had been established by the former Archbishop of Cashel, Dr Dermot Clifford, who the Vatican appointed to run the scandal-hit diocese following the resignation in 2009 of Bishop John Magee over his cover-ups of child abuse scandals involving two priests.

A spokesman for the National Board for Safeguarding Children in the Catholic Church confirmed to RTÉ News that one of them was Mr Duane.

In a statement this evening, the current Bishop of Cloyne, Dr William Crean, thanked the survivors of abuse who, he said, had the courage to come forward to tell their stories.

He said the process was "long and painful... for all involved".

He reiterated his "deepest sympathy and sorrow that the survivors had to suffer so much from a person in whom they had placed their trust".

"I apologise to them once again and to all who have suffered abuse of any kind at the hands of clergy," said Bishop Crean, adding that the most comprehensive child protection measures are in place in the diocese to ensure that such evil acts never recur.

Mr Duane has twice been tried and found not guilty at the Circuit Criminal Court in Cork of indecently assaulting teenage girls.

In May 2011 he was found not guilty of indecently assaulting a teenage girl by direction of the trial judge, who said he was concerned about the delay in making a complaint to gardaí.

In November 2011 he was found not guilty by a jury of indecently assaulting a second teenager, following a three-day trial.

A church spokesperson confirmed the diocese of Cloyne has settled civil cases with at least five of his victims. 

The spokesperson told RTÉ News that the church's internal judicial proceedings had been suspended with the agreement of all parties concerned while the State's criminal processes and the Murphy Commission of Inquiry into Cloyne were in train and that these suspensions contributed to the delay in completing the church's work on the case.