Ireland - Roman Catholic bishops, releasing a damning report on their handling of child sex-abuse scandals, apologized Thursday and promised to improve systems for protecting children.
The 332-page report, the fruit of two years of work by psychologists at the Royal College of Surgeons in Ireland, detailed the damage the scandals have done to victims, the church and wider society in this overwhelmingly Catholic nation.
"This study makes painful reading, not least for a bishop," said Archbishop Sean Brady, president of the Irish Bishops Conference and leader of Ireland's 4 million Catholics. "It tells of mistakes made in responding to those who came to the church seeking sensitivity and compassion."
More than 100 Irish clergy have been convicted of sex offenses in the last decade. The scandals toppled a government in 1994 after the Irish attorney-general delayed extradition of a priest wanted on sex abuse charges in neighboring Northern Ireland.
A compensation tribunal formed earlier this year is expected to pay up to $700 million to thousands of claimants who allegedly suffered abuse in church-run schools, workhouses and orphanages from the 1940s to 1980s. The government agreed to foot most of the bill because it had ultimate responsibility for supervising the institutions.
The report, which was commissioned by the church, made 19 recommendations for protecting children, handling complaints from alleged victims, and training and supporting priests to prevent future abuse.
Brady pledged that the church would pursue "the greatest possible protection for all children in the future."
Researchers surveyed 1,081 citizens by telephone. They conducted face-to-face interviews with seven victims of molestation and eight clergymen convicted of sex-abuse crimes.
They communicated by mail with scores of church officials, including 35 bishops — and concluded that church leaders were guilty of bad management.
The report recommended that priests operate under a professional code of conduct and receive much more formal support and training throughout their careers, while bishops should be required to have professional management training.
"Truly effective management by the church is absolutely necessary. The path to restoration of confidence has to be systematic and transparent," said an author of the report, Prof. Hannah McGee. "It is by necessity going to be a slow process where trust, to be reinstated, will have to be earned."
The survey found that 77 percent think the church hasn't responded adequately to the scandals, although 72 percent also feel that priests have been "unfairly judged" in general.
Overall satisfaction with the church stood at 44 percent. While 66 percent said they sought moral guidance from the church, just 32 percent did on matters of sexual morality.
The report said the scandals had dented people's faith in religious practice. Some 36 percent said they prayed or attended Mass less frequently, and 41 percent wouldn't automatically trust a newly arrived priest.
Some 65 percent said they would be happy if their child became an altar server, while 56 percent would be happy if their son wanted to become a priest.
The findings had a margin of error of 3 percentage points.
"Clearly in relation to clerical sexual abuse we failed many young people over too long a period. For what has happened we are truly sorry," Bishop John McAreavey said at a press conference unveiling the report.
The report concluded that victims and priests both suffered because of the church hierarchy's incompetent management.
"Some (priests) reported attempts to conceal their identity in public to avoid being identified as clergy as a consequence of the issue. They reported a loss of public credibility and trust and a sense of low morale. Fear of a false allegation of abuse was also a concern," the report's executive summary said.
"In retrospect, both those abused and their family members described a great sense of guilt because they had chosen to report the abuse to the church rather than civil authorities. Many felt that other children may have been protected from abuse if they had chosen to report it to civil authorities instead," it said.