Catholic Bishop of Raphoe Dr Philip Boyce had claimed the Catholic
Church is being attacked by the arrows of a secular and Godless culture.
And he added that it was also rocked from the inside by the sins and crimes of priests and consecrated people.
An
independent review of diocesan files relating to child abuse
allegations against priests is nearing completion in the bishop's
diocese.
The Donegal bishop promised to publish the findings of
the National Board for Safeguarding Children in the Catholic Church,
when he receives them next month.
He told worshippers at the
Novena at the Marian shrine in Knock, Co Mayo over the weekend that
they were living through a testing moment of history and a spiritual
dark night now engulfs the Church.
But the bishop urged Catholics to act ‘’hopefully and with patience’’ and said the church would rise again.