It is extremely difficult to find out exactly how many abusers and victims there have been, - part of the conspiracy of silence' no doubt,
This article – (over 2 years out of date – the situation has moved on since then) puts some of it into context, though nowhere has there been any indication of those who have been bought off, and we will never have the remotest idea of how many never reported it, but it will be certainly a far greater proportion than those women who were too ashamed (or too frightened of the maulings they will most certainly get from our legal systems) to report 'ordinary rape' (isn't that an appalling phrase.?)
"I'm sure he would have spoken of Fr. Murphy's crimes during the funeral."
He would have been the first one to have done so - can you think of one other occasion this this has happened, or is he a single lone voice crying in the wilderness?
Jim Carroll

UP TO 350 IRISH PRIESTS WERE LIKELY ACCUSED CHILD ABUSERS
New report shows it was far more than just a small element
By
JAMES O'SHEA,
Irish Central Staff Writer
One of the arguments made frequently in Ireland is that it is only a tiny minority of priests who were abusers. Yet the latest investigation, released yesterday, into six dioceses seems to indicate the opposite.
The report was compiled by the National Board for Safeguarding Children in the Catholic Church.
The figures, shown below, were on the RTE television website soon after the investigation made its findings public seem to indicate otherwise.
All in all a total of 85 priests across six dioceses were accused of child sexual abuse. If you extrapolate that number across the 20 other dioceses you end up with a number close to 350 if you include the fact that Dublin and three other archdioceses are still to be counted and will have far more accused as a result of larger numbers of priests.