The Vatican has published its report on the child abuse crisis in the Catholic Church in Ireland.
It recommends that Irish diocesan authorities and those of religious institutes should continue to devote time to listening to victims and providing support for them and their families.
The findings are based on an apostolic visitation to the four archdioceses, religious congregations and seminaries.
The report found that the current guidelines on child protection were being followed.
It said Archbishops had given assurances that any newly-discovered cases of abuse were brought before the competent civil authority and the congregation for the doctrine of the faith.
The report said that it must be acknowledged that within the Christian community innocent young people were abused by clerics and religious to whose care they had been entrusted, while those who should have exercised vigilance often failed to do so effectively.
It said that in delivering its findings, the Holy See re-echoes the sense of dismay and betrayal that the Pope expressed in his letter to Catholics in Ireland two years ago, "regarding the sinful and criminal acts that were at the root of this particular crisis".
Primate of All Ireland Cardinal Sean Brady welcomed the publication of the findings of the visitation.
Cardinal Brady said the church expressed a heartfelt plea for forgiveness from victims and from God for the terrible sins and crimes of abuse.
He also emphasised that the visitation was pastoral in nature and was intended to assist the Irish church on its path of renewal.
Archbishop of Dublin Diarmuid Martin said the extent of the child abuse crisis was shattering and that the children who had been abused should be foremost in our minds.
Archbishop of Tuam Michael Neary said his thoughts were with the survivors and victims of clerical child abuse today.
He said the Vatican's report acknowledged the appalling abuse perpetrated by priests and religious on innocent young people.
But he said progress was being made in terms of being able to address the problems within the church.
He said lay people were being trained and were working now with priests and religious in the community.
Archbishop Neary said the church was co-operating fully with State authorities to ensure that children were protected and cherished in safe environments.
Admission criteria for seminaries
The report on the visitation also proposed more consistent admission criteria for seminaries and in-depth formation on child protection for priests as part of their academic programme.
It proposed that seminary buildings should be exclusively for seminarians and those preparing them for the priesthood.
On the religious congregations, the report found that all religious institutes should perform an audit of their personnel files, if such an audit has not yet been carried out.
Commenting on the findings, Sr Marianne O'Connor of CORI, acknowledged that there had been a slowness to understand the impact of child abuse.
Sr O'Connor insisted that the religious orders and the church were heartfelt in their apology for the abuse crisis.
She said there was a focus on ensuring child safety procedures were in place, and on the ongoing support of victims.
Pope Benedict promised report
The report was promised two years ago by Pope Benedict XVI in his letter to Catholics in Ireland.
The Pope expressed horror and dismay in the wake of the Ryan and Murphy reports, which revealed a 70-year history child abuse by a significant number of priests, brothers and nuns and cover-ups by their religious superiors.
The Pope assigned six teams to formally assess the implications of the abuse scandals in each of the country's four archdioceses, in religious orders and congregations based in Ireland and abroad.
Some of the teams met victims and concerned Catholics in advertised locations, as well as individual survivors behind closed doors.
Minister for Transport Leo Varadkar has said the Government's priority is to protect children and to put legislation in place to make sure that is the case.
Mr Varadkar said legislation to put the Children First regulations on a statutory footing would go to committee before Easter, while a standalone referendum on children's rights would be held before the end of the year.
Archbishop says church making 'progress'
The Archbishop of Tuam, Michael Neary, has said his thoughts were with the survivors and victims of clerical child abuse today.
He said the Vatican's report acknowledged the appalling abuse perpetrated by priests and religious on innocent young people.
But he said progress was being made in terms of being able to address the problems within the Catholic Church.
He said lay people were being trained and were working now with priests and religious in the community.