In Ireland, the Vatican has defrocked two Catholic priests in the Diocese of Ferns who had been convicted of sexually abusing children.

* In Ireland, the Vatican has defrocked two Catholic priests in the Diocese of Ferns who had been convicted of sexually abusing children. While a spokesman refused to identify, the men, only two priests from that diocese have been convicted of such abuse: James Doyle and Donal Collins. It is the first time that the Vatican has dismissed a priest in Ireland over sexual abuse. The diocese was also the home of Ireland's most notorious priest pedophile, the Rev. Sean Fortune, who committed suicide in i999 while awaiting trial on 66 criminal counts of molesting and raping boys over nearly two decades.

The bishop of Ferns, Brendan Comiskey, resigned in 2002 after admitting he had done "too little" to stop the abuse being committed by Fortune and others. Ireland has been hit particularly hard by the sexual abuse scandal, with the 1994 government of then-Prime Minister Albert Reynolds resigning over its handling of one case.

The Residential Institutions Redress Board, which is investigating physical and sexual abuse claims dating back to the 1940s, said it has paid nearly 2,000 claimants an average of $105,000 each. The board estimates it could eventually face up to 7,000 claims and pay out $870 million--the vast majority of it taxpayers' money.