The Bishop of Raphoe has dismissed a newspaper article today about
the contents of a report due to be published later this month on the
abuse of children by priests in the county Donegal diocese.
Bishop Philip Boyce responded in a statement to reports in the Irish
Independent that hundreds of children were abused by priests in Raphoe
over a forty year period.
The findings are said to be contained in a report from the National
Board for Safeguarding Children which is expected to be published next
month.
Bishop Boyce says some of the newspaper claims are inaccurate and
misleading and not in the public interest - and that he intends to
complain about the matter.
The publication of the report follows the recent Cloyne revelations -
which shed further light on the Church's mishandling and cover-up of
clerical sex abuse in Ireland.