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Wed 05 May 2004Saint hid sex abuse, says authorA new book claims that the patron saint of Catholic schools covered up the first sex abuse scandal in the Catholic Church.In Fallen Order, Karen Liebreich writes that in 1621 the Spaniard Father José de Calasanz established the Piarist Order to house and educate the poor children of Rome. The schools flourished and quickly became established throughout Catholic Europe. Yet in 1646, the order was abolished by the Pope amid rumours of a scandal.