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Article: Report chronicles abuse, cover-up in rural Irish diocese: government considers inquiries into church nationwide.(WORLD)
- Article from:
- National Catholic Reporter
- Article date:
- November 11, 2005
- Author:
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The Catholic church in Ireland is in free fall after the first government inquiry into its internal affairs has revealed that in the small rural diocese of Ferns in Country Wexford on the southeast coast between 21 and 28 priests raped and sodomized young boys and girls over a 40-year period.
The report, released Oct. 25, says that priests used their access to primary schools to prey on defenseless victims. In one instance, the late Fr. Jim Grennan sat near the altar molesting 10 submissive girls as they knelt before him to make their pre-confirmation confessions. One editorial writer here, in the wake of the report, described the diocesan seminary as "an academy ...