Denomination Roman Catholic Established 7th Century | Population- Catholics 101,244 Area 2,999 km² | |
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The Diocese of Ferns (Irish: Deoise Fhearna) is a Roman Catholic diocese in south-eastern Ireland. It is one of six suffragan dioceses in the ecclesiastical province of Dublin and is subject to the Archdiocese of Dublin. The incumbent Ordinary is Denis Brennan.
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Geographical remit
The See covers most of County Wexford and some of County Carlow and County Wicklow. The major towns are Enniscorthy, Gorey, New Ross and Wexford.
It is a suffragan of the Roman Catholic Archdiocese of Dublin.
History
W. H. Grattan Flood, author of the History of the Diocese of Ferns, illustrates the origin of the Diocese, by stating:
Ordinaries
The following is a list of the most recent post-Reformation Roman Catholic bishops and vicars apostolic.
Sex abuse controversy
The October 2005 Report of the Ferns Inquiry has outlined the serious levels of clerical sex abuse in the diocese since the 1960s. It strongly criticised the former bishops of Ferns, Donal Herlihy and Brendan Comiskey for their inability to deal with the allegations of sexual abuse made against a number of priests. Comiskey resigned as Bishop on 1 April 2002.