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Page last updated at 10:13 GMT, Friday, 26 March 2010

Vatican reaction 'foolish'

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The Pope has been accused of failing to act on complaints from two archbishops about a priest who allegedly abused 200 deaf boys in the US.

Reverend Lawrence Murphy, who is accused of carrying out the abuse between 1950 and 1974, has since died.

Religious affairs editor Robert Piggott outlines the latest allegations to plague the Church, and Sir Ken Macdonald, former director of public prosecutions between 2003 and 2008, examines how the Vatican has dealt with the scandals.

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