The Catholic Primate of All Ireland, Archbishop Seán Brady, has expressed "deepest sorrow" on behalf of all the bishops that some priests were responsible for child sexual abuse.
"We apologise once again to the victims and to their loved ones for the hurt caused, the damage done, and for failures in pastoral responsibility on our part in the handling of these cases." he said yesterday.
The Archbishop was speaking at the publication of a report commissioned by the Irish bishops called Time to Listen: Confronting Child Sexual Abuse by Catholic Clergy in Ireland.
The report found that 77 per cent of people surveyed felt that the church was not dealing with the clerical child sex abuse problem adequately.
Only 42 per cent believed it would safeguard children entrusted to its care. Only 40 per cent trusted the church to handle problems with its own clergy.
Forty-one per cent were unwilling automatically to trust a priest on first arrival in their community, while 94 per cent believed the church's handling of clerical child sex abuse had damaged the church; 52 per cent believing the damage permanent.
On a more positive note, 54 per cent said they were satisfied with priests today, with 47 per cent saying their quality was better than in the past.
Sixty-five per cent said they would be positive about their child becoming an altar server, with 56 per cent positive about the prospect of a son becoming a priest.
Two-thirds said they still looked to priests for general moral guidance, with just a third saying they looked to the church for guidance on sexual matters. Satisfaction with the church, however, was 44 per cent.
Both clergy (95 per cent) and public (94 per cent) said they had come to know about clerical child sex abuse, and child sex abuse generally, through the media.
The archbishop described the report as "an important milestone in the difficult journey which the confrontation of child sexual abuse is."
He said it made painful reading, not least for bishops.
"It tells of mistakes made in responding to those who came to the church seeking sensitivity and compassion." he said.
"The limits of what have often been perceived as an unduly legalistic response, attempts at 'avoiding scandal', and protecting the institutional church, are already well documented.
"The mistakes of the past must be acknowledged, and must not be repeated," he added.
The bishops were "pledged to study, carefully and fully," the report's findings, said the archbishop.
He said he gladly saluted the fidelity of the priests and religious of Ireland.
"I encourage them to continue to serve the Lord and their people with the same loving dedication, despite the trials of this present age," he said.
The study, prepared by Prof Hannah McGee, Prof Ciarán O'Boyle and Ms Helen Goode, was conducted in three phases.
Between January and May 2002 there was a telephone survey of 1,081 people who were selected at random according to ESRI survey norms.
Forty-eight people, including abusers and their families, victims and their families, colleagues of convicted clergy and other clergy, were interviewed face-to-face.
There was also a postal survey of senior Irish church personnel, including 35 bishops.
The conference was told that the report would be discussed at the winter meeting of the Irish Episcopal Conference in Maynooth next week.
In reply to a question, the Bishop of Clogher, Dr Joseph Duffy, said that 51 priests had been convicted in Ireland since 1983 on child sex abuse charges.
The report was welcomed last night as "an important step forward" by the One in Four support group.
