Bishop Martin Drennan has admitted to feeling "very ashamed" of the crimes of physical and sexual abuse perpetrated by the clergy and the Church's failure to deal with the abuse. However, he said, he believed what had happened could not happen again because of policies that the Church had subsequently implemented.

Speaking exclusively to the Galway Independent, Bishop Drennan said: "I feel very ashamed of the failures and crimes of physical and sexual abuse of my brothers and sisters in the Church.

"Through the Church's current strict policies to ensure the safety and welfare of children, I believe that what happened in the past cannot happen again. We believe that we are promoting best practice now and into the future. We hope that we are moving towards justice, healing and eventual closure for survivors."

Bishop Drennan also defended the Pope's stance on not apologising to survivors of clerical sex abuse.

"As I understand it, admission of responsibility is personal and apologies are personal," said Bishop Drennan.

"We can all speak of our sorrow and our horror at the abuse suffered - as the Holy Father has done - and ask forgiveness, but it can never be quite the same as when the wrongdoer admits the wrong in person and asks for forgiveness in person."

The Bishop also reiterated his belief that the actions of many survivors of abuse are understandably driven by revenge. However, he also pointed to the survivors that have used their voices to ensure that nobody else experiences their horror.

"In my ministry over the years, I have met with survivors of physical and sexual abuse. They talk of the anger they felt and the anger they still feel because of the injustice done to them. I fully understand their pain and their need for justice.

"Of those whom I have met, some admit a strong desire for revenge, and indeed that too is very understandable. Many, though, have moved beyond that impulse. Many hope to use their voices to make sure that what happened to them will never happen to anyone else. They want to get on with their lives.

"As Church and as society, we owe it to them to give whatever assistance we can. Because of what happened in the past, it will always be very difficult to make up for what was lost. These men and women deserved more and still deserve much," he said.

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