Abuse victims welcomed the report on the Dublin Archdiocese's mishandling of abuse complaints against its parish priests from 1975 to 2004. It followed a parallel report published in May that dealt with five decades of rape, beatings, and other cruelty committed by Catholic orders of nuns and brothers nationwide in church-run schools, children's workhouses, and orphanages from the 1930s to mid-1990s.

The government said the Dublin investigation "shows clearly that a systemic, calculated perversion of power and trust was visited on helpless and innocent children in the archdiocese."

"The perpetrators must continue to be brought to justice, and the people of Ireland must know that this can never happen again," the government said, also apologizing for the state's failure to hold church authorities accountable under the law.

The 720-page report - delivered to the government in July, but released yesterday after extensive legal vetting - analyzes the cases of 46 priests against whom 320 complaints were filed. The 46 were selected from more than 150 Dublin priests implicated in molesting or raping boys and girls since 1940.

Eleven priests convicted of child abuse are named in the report, but 33 are referred to by aliases and two have their names blacked out because their criminal cases are about to begin in Dublin courts.

The report rejected the assertion by past bishops that they were ignorant of the scale and criminality of priests' abuse of children. It documented how the Dublin Archdiocese negotiated a 1987 insurance policy to cover future legal costs of defending lawsuits and compensation claims.

At the time, bishops knew of at least 17 priests linked to abuse cases, the report said, and "the taking out of insurance was an act proving knowledge of child sexual abuse as a potential major cost to the archdiocese."