Last July, the Ryan Report was published on the sexual abuse by priests on children living in Irish institutions. Today the Murphy Report (700 pages, 3 vols.) was published detailing 320 instances only of sexual abuse by priests on children in the general community and only in the diocese of Dublin occurring through 5 or 6 Archbishops holding the office.
One of the things that has always bothered me was whether or not these priests were part of an organized pedophile ring, and the report says:
"...it can find no direct evidence of a paedophile ring existing among priests in the Dublin Archdiocese although it says there were some worrying connections."
RTE
There was no help for the children being abused from the church:
The report states that it was not until 1995 that the Archdiocese began to notify the civil authorities of complaints of clerical abuse.
The Commission concludes that in light of this and other facts every bishop's primary loyalty was to the church itself.
There was no help from the police who thought the priests were above the laws of the land:
The report strongly criticises gardaí. It states that senior members of the force regarded priests as being outside their remit and it claims there are examples of gardaí reporting abuse complaints to the Diocese rather than investigating them.
Please keep in mind that this report covers only one diocese in Ireland and there are current investigations in the Diocese of Ferns and the Diocese of Cloyne. The Archbishops of the remaining dioceses have had to answer questions and additional inquiries may be opened.
The entire report can be accessed at the RTE link above, but it is super busy right now.