A damning report into how allegations of child sexual abuse were handled by successive bishops in the Catholic archdiocese of Dublin may not be released this week as expected.The Sunday Tribune understands that, while justice minister Dermot Ahern wants to release it as soon as possible, serious difficulties arising from last week's High Court judgment on its publication mean it may take longer to publish than expected.
The report has been described by a senior source with knowledge of its contents as "Ferns on a grand scale", in a reference to the 2005 Ferns report which identified over 100 allegations of abuse against 21 priests in that diocese between 1962 and 2002.
The report will highlight how Dublin church leaders repeatedly failed to act when alerted about suspicions of child abuse by priests, and sought to move clerics to other parishes.
"It will show that nothing happened in Dublin that didn't happen in Ferns. It is all there, and shows how bishops buried their heads in the sand, protected the assets of the church, and moved people around," the source told the Sunday Tribune.
The report is expected to focus much of its criticism on 19 Dublin bishops, and in particular four archbishops. These are John Charles McQuaid, Dermot Ryan, Kevin McNamara and Cardinal Desmond Connell.
The commission of inquiry has examined how allegations of child sex abuse against a sample of 46 priests were handled by state and church authorities in Dublin between 1975 and April 2004, when Cardinal Connell retired as archbishop.
In last week's ruling, Judge Paul Gilligan said one chapter, chapter 19, which relates to a particular priest, must be excluded from the report as it could prejudice criminal proceedings against the man. He also directed that some 21 references to the same individual in other parts of the report should not be published for now. Each edit was specified in detail by Judge Gilligan at the hearing.
While it is still hoped to publish the report late next week, the Sunday Tribune understands that the time involved in abiding by the High Court ruling means it may not be possible to publish it until the following week.
Up to six experts will have to go through the report in separate rooms to ensure all aspects of the court order are adhered to.
Arrangements then have to be made to have the redacted version printed and made available online.
The justice minister has repeatedly stressed his concern that nothing should be done that might prejudice prosecutions.
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