The Bishop of Aberdeen has apologised for three decades of abuse carried out at a boarding school in his diocese.Bishop Hugh Gilbert told parishioners at Fort Augustus church it was "bitter, shaming and distressing" that children had been abused at the village's abbey school and its feeder school Carlekemp in East Lothian.
A BBC Scotland investigation, Sins Of Our Fathers, which was broadcast last Monday, interviewed five men who said they were raped or sexually assaulted by Fr Aidan Duggan, an Australian monk who taught at the Benedictine-run Fort Augustus Abbey School from 1953 to 1974.
Fr Duggan died in 2004 but some allegations relate to men who are still alive. Scottish police are investigating allegations made in the programme.
In his homily at Mass Bishop Gilbert, himself a Benedictine, said: "It is a most bitter, shaming and distressing thing that in this former Abbey School a small number of baptised, consecrated and ordained Christian men physically or sexually abused those in their care."
Bishop Gilbert was sent to Fort Augustus Abbey for studies and preparation for the priesthood in the late 1970s. The monastery closed in 1998.
His apology follows one given by the abbot president of the English Benedictine Congregation, Richard Yeo last week.
"I know that Abbot Richard Yeo has offered an apology to those who have suffered such abuse and I join him in that," the bishop said. "We are anxious that there be a thorough police investigation into all this. And, that all that can be done should be done for the victims. All of us must surely pray for those who have suffered."
He added: "The Catholic Church in Scotland has been addressing this issue increasingly effectively in recent years. We want to work with all public bodies who care for the young and vulnerable adults. We wish to share our experience and share best practice so that lessons can be learned and children can always be fully protected."