DUBLIN, Ireland - Jan. 21, 2006 (UPI) -- Some 500 women in Ireland are having affairs with Roman Catholic priests, said a support group that helps those in forbidden relationships.

The affair of the Rev. Maurice Dillane, 73, with his 31-year-old girlfriend made headlines after it was disclosed the two had had a child together, the Daily Telegraph reported Saturday.

Pat Buckley, a former priest who heads the support group Bethany, said it was a conservative estimate that one in 10 of the 5,000 Catholic priests in Ireland were having sex with women.

However, if the estimates were to include practicing homosexuals, Buckley said up to 40 percent of the Roman Catholic clergy in Ireland were sexually active.

"Bishops are caught between Rome and the priests and, of course, some of the bishops are in the same position ... having sexual relationships," he said. "From the top down it is hypocritical. We are preaching compulsory celibacy, but very few are living it."

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