Seamus Hegarty, the Roman Catholic Bishop Of Derry

And the Catholic child sexual abuse scandal only becomes bigger and wider in Europe by the day.

A reader just told me that he heard in the radio this morning an Irish Catholic priest saying

It would offend my morality to report a fellow priest for child abuse.

As reported by The Guardian UK,  today in Ireland was embroiled another child abuse scandal after revelations that a victim was paid to keep quiet in a deal overseen by the Bishop of Derry.

Bishop Seamus Hegarty has been named among the defendants in an out-of-court settlement after an eight-year-old girl was abused by a priest for more than a decade.

The legal papers show that £12,000 was paid in compensation to the victim on condition that she kept the agreement confidential.

The settlement between the Archdiocese of Derry and the young woman, who was eight when the abuse, began, contained a silence clause preventing her from discussing the case.

Her ordeal began in 1979, lasting for a decade before she revealed, during her 18th birthday party, that she had been repeatedly abused by the priest.

He had been invited into the home by her parents, who had no idea he was a child abuser. He told her

God will punish you, if you speak about your ordeal.

Chancellor Merkel said the crimes would haunt victims for the rest of their lives

German Chancellor Angela Merkel called today for more efforts and openness to shed more light on child abuse by Catholic priests in Germany. The cases plague most Catholic, including Elite schools, in the country.

In Austria, where most if not all of the Catholic establishments have being reported for child sexual and corporal abuse, including paid cover-up cases very similar to the one mentioned above.

There is a sharp criticism over the fact that a Pastoral letter will change nothing, Bishops are themselves stating ‘do not deny the guilt of the Church‘; a political party asked for the Chemical Castration of the offenders (clerics, in this case), as it is the same that occurs with any or every criminal – there should be no tolerance; and the scandal, as I have been following it daily through this same media, is currently covering, in graphic details, over 70% of radio, television and newspaper space in the country.