15/09/2010

Bishop Asks Priests For €1K Towards Compensation

The Bishop of Ferns has gone to the parish priests, asking them to contribute €1,000 each to pay the outstanding bill for abuse compensation.

Bishop of Ferns Dr Denis Brennan made the request in a letter to members of the clergy writing that "the consensus at the Deanery meetings was that €1,000 per priest per year would meet our present needs".

According to reports this morning, the letter contained a standing order slip, which is to be returned by September 30.

The recent inquiries into paedophile priests in Ferns uncovered over 100 allegations of abuse against 21 priests between the 1960s and 2005.

Pope Benedict XVI is expected to address the issue of clerical sex abuse in the Catholic Church during his state visit to Britain this week, according to his senior spokesman Fr Federico Lombardi.

The spokesman said the pope had also been greatly pained by the publication last week of the Adriaenssens report, which revealed further child sex abuse in Belgium. Among other further revelations of horrendous abuse by priests, the report claimed 13 people committed suicide as a result of abuse by Catholic clergy.

Meanwhile this morning, Britain and the Vatican are meeting to discuss their approach to protests over clerical child abuse during the Pope's visit to Britain.

Pope Benedict XVI arrives in Scotland tomorrow for a four-day visit and is expected to face protests and opposition over the recent child abuse cover-up revelations and accusations of links to Nazi youth during Pope Benedict's teenage years.

(DW/KMcA)

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