Irish church abuse deal under fire

The UK's BBC reports that:

The Irish Government is facing heavy criticism over a deal to compensate victims of clerical abuse. Prime Minister Bertie Ahern and his ministers are being accused of hugely underestimating the cost of pay-outs to people who suffered sexual and physical abuse in the Catholic Church's institutions.

The row centres on a deal struck last year between the government and the Church. It covered compensation for the thousands of victims in homes run by religious orders between the 1930s and the 1970s. The Church agreed to pay around 130 million euros ($152m), which at the time was thought to be about half of the estimated bill.

But a report from Ireland's auditor-general suggests there could be up to 11,000 compensation claims leading to a total bill of around one billion euros ($1.1bn).

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More: http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/world/europe/3156750.stm

More good news for Cardinal Joseph Ratzinger: no wonder he's asking for prayers for JP2 and saying the pontiff 'is in a really bad way'...