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New Priest Abuse Revelations in Irish Capital

The Roman Catholic archdiocese of Dublin, Ireland revealed that it suspects 102 of its priests sexually or physically abused at least 350 children in the last 66 years. Church authorities said there may be "a possible further 40 persons who may have been abused but who it is not yet possible to identify or trace." The admission came ahead of the expected creation of a government-appointed commission to probe the history and handling of such abuse in Ireland.

The archdiocese reviewed the personnel files of more than 2,800 priests who worked in Dublin over a two-year period. It found that eight priests were convicted of abuse and 32 had been sued by 105 alleged victims, costing the archdiocese $7 million. The figure includes $2 million in legal bills for both plaintiffs and the church. Because 40 cases are still pending, Archbishop Diarmuid Martin says the archdiocese will have to sell some properties to pay for the compensations. But he says the sacrifice is needed to pay for past wrongs.

"It`s very frightening for me to see that in some of these cases, so many children were abused. It`s very hard to weigh that up against anything." He added, "On the other hand, I know that the vast majority of priests don`t abuse, that they do good work, that they`re extremely upset and offended by what`s happened." Ireland, which is a majority Catholic country, has been scandalized by scores of church sex abuse accusations since 1994. The church`s latest revelation is the biggest of its kind in Ireland.