Vatican reaction:The Vatican yesterday "declined to comment" on the findings of the Ferns report on clerical sex abuse in Co Wexford over a 40-year period.
Vatican deputy spokesman Fr Ciro Benedettini said there would be no official Vatican response to the findings.
The Holy See intends to follow its strategy for other clerical sex abuse scandals, especially those in North America, considering them the competence of the local Catholic Church and local Bishops' Conference.
Throughout the clerical sex abuse storm that has hit the church in the past decade since Cardinal of Vienna Hans Hermann Groer was forced out in 1995 after allegations emerged that he had sexually assaulted a boy, the Holy See has consistently declined to comment on specific cases.
During his pontificate, the late pope John Paul II issued strong generic condemnations of clerical sex abuse without ever referring to specific cases. One of his most forceful comments came in April 2002 when he addressed US cardinals in the Vatican for an emergency two-day meeting on the abuse crisis in the US.
"Like you, I too have been deeply grieved by the fact that priests and religious have themselves caused such suffering and scandal to the young. Because of the great harm done by some priests and religious, the church herself is viewed with distrust, and many are offended at the way in which the church's leaders are perceived to have acted in this matter," he said.
He then expressed his "profound sense of solidarity and concern" for victims, saying "there is no place in the priesthood and religious life for those who would harm the young".
Not surprisingly, Pope Benedict XVI made no reference to Ireland or the Ferns report in his weekly public audience yesterday in St Peter's Square.
Archbishop of Armagh and Primate of All Ireland Dr Seán Brady and Archbishop of Dublin Dr Diarmuid Martin were in Rome for the past three weeks at a synod which ended on Sunday. They no doubt aired serious Irish church matters, including clerical sex abuse, with Vatican colleagues.