VATICAN CITY
Chicago Tribune
March 20 (Reuters) – VATICAN CITY, March 20 (Reuters) – A Vatican report on the sexual abuse of Irish children by Catholic clergy accused Ireland’s religious leaders of negligence and called for more reforms there to avoid a similarly “shameful” scandal in the future.
There have been a series of reports on allegations of child abuse by priests and members of religious orders. Here are some details of their findings:
* OCTOBER 2005:
— An inquiry was set up following the resignation in 2002 of the Bishop of Ferns, Brendan Comiskey, when it emerged he had been aware of the activities of an abusive priest in the
diocese, but failed to protect the victims. The priest, Father Sean Fortune, committed suicide in 1999 after he was charged with multiple sex offences.
— The 270-page report detailed the Church’s handling of 100 allegations of abuse against 21 priests in the diocese of Ferns in County Wexford dating back to the mid-1960s. Among the
allegations were accusations of rape.
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