Pope urged to offer abuse apology

German Catholics are continuing to struggle with the magnitude of abuse claims against priests; at least 300 have come forward since January.

Victims in neighbouring Austria and the Netherlands have also made

abuse claims, triggering a crisis in the church.

Yesterday, there were also further allegations of mishandling child sex abuse in Ireland, with claims a girl abused by a priest was sworn to secrecy in an out-of-court settlement which was said to involve the Bishop of Derry Seamus Hegarty.

"If the Pope himself doesn't take a stance, apologise for what Rome has committed over the past decades in terms of cover-up – then our believers will become even more disappointed than they already are," Father Udo Fischer, who heads a parish in the Lower Austrian village of Paudorf, said. "Jesus would certainly not have kept quiet."

The latest case in Ireland involves a woman who said a decade of abuse by a priest who had befriended her family began in 1979 and did not end until she told her parents on her 18th birthday.

A spokesman for Bishop Hegarty said yesterday he was aware of the case, but would not be commenting until a detailed review had been carried out.

He confirmed the bishop's office was alerted to the woman's claims by the Belfast Telegraph newspaper but had not immediately reviewed the case because of the St Patrick's Day holiday.

The settlement of the Derry case was said to have involved a payment of 12,000 to the woman and her parents. The family had not contacted police in the belief that the Church would deal with the issue, but became dissatisfied with how the clergy handled the matter.

The settlement is said to have included a confidentiality clause and a letter written by the priest.

In the letter, reproduced in the newspaper, the priest wrote: "Now as I grow into pension years and feel the insecurity of uncertain health, I am anxious to offer you and your extended family my deepest apology for any pain I caused you through inappropriate gesture or mistaken signs of affection."

Victims of clerical sexual abuse in Ireland continue to call for Cardinal Sean Brady's resignation for his role in a meeting 35 years ago where two children abused by Father Brendan Smyth were asked to take a vow of silence. The primate has said he will take a period of time to reflect on his future.

A separate Irish Catholic clergyman has also said he would not

necessarily report child sex abuse to the police.

Monsignor Maurice Dooley defended the cardinal's silence in 1975.

Asked what he would do if a paedophile priest confided in him,

Monsignor Dooley said: "I would not tell anyone. That is his responsibility. I am considering only my responsibility. My responsibility is to maintain the confidentiality of information which I had been given under the contract of confidentiality."

Three Irish government inquiries have documented child abuse and cover-ups involving more than 15,000 children.