Catholic order offers $260m for abuse

An Irish Catholic religious order heavily criticised in a report on child abuse said Wednesday it will provide a $261 million package of measures as reparation.

The Christian Brothers said the offer followed its "acceptance, shame and sorrow" about the findings made by the landmark Ryan report in May, and recognised "our moral obligation to survivors of abuse".

The report found that sexual, physical and emotional abuse of children was widespread in Catholic-run industrial and reformatory schools, orphanages and other childcare institutions dating back to the 1930s.

Another major judicial commission into clerical child abuse is due to publish its report on Thursday, dealing with allegations about priests working in the archdiocese of Dublin, the country's biggest.

It will outline how they were dealt with by church authorities - the first state probe into the operations of the once-powerful Church - in a report that Archbishop of Dublin Diarmuid Martin has said will "shock us all."

After the devastating conclusions of the Ryan report, Prime Minister Brian Cowen met leaders of the 18 orders at the heart of the scandal and told them of mainly Catholic Ireland's "dismay and abhorrence".

The Dail (Irish parliament) also unanimously called on the orders to pay compensation in addition to the $209 million sum agreed in a controversial 2002 indemnity deal with the government.

A redress scheme has already paid out a billion euros in compensation and legal fees to over 13,000 victims.

The Brothers said Wednesday they understood and regretted that "nothing we say or do can turn back the clock for those affected by abuse", and would "continue to reflect on many of the deeper issues" raised by the Ryan report.

"The decisions we have taken to recognise our moral obligation to survivors of abuse and to the people of Ireland will be one sign of our willingness to collaborate fully in creating a new reality for the care of children in Ireland," they said.

The Brothers' package is made up of cash and property, including sports playing fields which it values at $206 million.