Patsy McGarry,
Religious Affairs
Correspondent
The outgoing editor of Intercom, the magazine published by the Irish Catholic Bishops, has said that more than children can be abused by the church's structures.
Writing in the current issue of the Fold, the diocesan magazine for Cork and Ross, Father Bernard Cotter said "sometimes there can be a cold unkindness in the institutions of the church, where the heart of Christian compassion is supposed to reign".
Father Cotter said that over the past six years he had "a particular relationship with church structures" while editing Intercom.
Father Cotter was informed last January that his second three-year term as editor of Intercom was to be his last and that he was being recalled to the Cork and Ross diocese.
A successor has yet to be appointed.
The Fold, first published in July 1953, has ceased publication.
In the final edition, Bishop John Buckley of Cork and Ross said the old reliance on print media was waning. "In anticipation of that, the diocese has developed a comprehensive website (www.corkandross.org) which is regularly updated." It would "gradually take on the function of the Fold", he said.