The Minister for Children Barry Andrews has questioned the role of celibacy in the sexual abuse of children by priests and religious.

Speaking after the issuance of the pope’s pastoral letter, the Minister welcomed the apology given by Pope Benedict.

However, he said it fell short in addressing the weaknesses of the Catholic Church.

The Minister also spoke about celibacy within the Church.

“I think everybody is of the view that the issue of celibacy creates pressures on the human condition that are very hard to cope with, and I would like to have seen that addressed in some way to explain it – to try to address the issues that all of us are thinking” he said.

“So that was an issue that I’d like to have seen in the letter” he added.