A leading Scottish Catholic bishop has claimed that the Church may be its own worst enemy when it comes to spreading the gospel, in the wake of a priest in his diocese being jailed for child sex abuse.

The Bishop of Galloway, William Nolan, has released a letter saying: 'It could be argued that the greatest obstacle to preaching the gospel today in Scotland is the Catholic Church itself.'

The pastoral letter from Bishop Nolan said recent sexual abuse scandals involving clergy called into question the trust parishioners have in their priests, adding that negative publicity was 'embarrassing' to Catholics.

It comes after Father Paul Moore, 82, was sent to prison for nine years for sexually abusing three children and a student priest in crimes spanning more than 20 years.

Moore committed the crimes at various locations in Ayrshire between 1977 and 1996, and a court heard how he abused one boy at a school, another at a leisure centre and a third on the beach at Irvine in the 1970s.

He was also found guilty of indecently assaulting a student priest in 1995.

In the letter, Nolan began: 'It is now three years since I became Bishop of Galloway Diocese. In that time there have been two priests sent to prison. One for financial irregularities and now Father Paul Moore for the much more serious mater of sexual abuse, including that of a five-year-old child.'

He said: 'The damage done is often also spiritual damage destroying their faith in the Church and perhaps even their faith in God.'

Nolan said he was sorry about the priest's crimes. 'I would like to offer my personal apology to the victims: I am deeply saddened and pained by the abuse they have suffered, particularly since the one guilty of abuse is a priest of Galloway Diocese,' he wrote.

The bishop urged other victims of abuse to come forward, but said Catholics should pray for both the victims and Moore.

Nolan said that in his view, the priest's case must be referred to Rome, a process he said was likely to result in Moore being dismissed from the priesthood.

Two of Moore's victims, Paul Smyth and Andi Lavery, went public with their stories after waiving their right to anonymity.

After Moore was sentenced, the Church apologised to both men, and all abuse victims, but it has reportedly has not yet been in touch with them.