"Because of celibacy, clergy and members of religious orders are all potential child abusers, some just about keeping their instincts under control."

"As for bishops, they are little more than a bunch of twisted, incompetent old men, well aware of evil actions among some of their colleagues but saying nothing in order to protect their power."

"Child abuse was just par for the course."
 
"The Corrupt Church was not just the home of abuse, but the cause of it."

"The Church doesn't have a problem...

I was very surprised to see this story in the Manchester Guardian:

A media lynch mob is bent on destroying Pope

Fresh reports about the Pope's past just don't add up. But facts matter little in an issue that has become so politicised.


Oh wait, I misread.

During his homily and urbi et orbe address on Easter Sunday and blessing of his new Popemobile, Pope Benedict XVI failed to condemn the recent spate of ATM thefts that have plagued border counties;  he also failed to condemn the torture of frogs by small boys, genocide, adultery, fornication and any programme George Jones or Pat Kenny hosts;  he also failed to mention child abuse.

Commentators have concluded that he supports all of these crimes and doesn't take the issue seriously.

A Vatican sp...

Is it just me or did the Archbishop of Dublin, Diarmuid Martin, over-react a little to comments made by the Protestant Archbishop of Canterbury?

Dr Rowan Williams, speaking on BBC Radio 4’s Start the Week, to be broadcast on Monday, said: "I was speaking to an Irish friend recently who was saying that it’s quite difficult in some parts of Ireland to go down the street wearing a clerical collar now.

"An institution so deeply bound into the life of a society suddenly becoming, suddenly los...

Timothy Bartlett

We know The Times knows little enough about the Catholic Church but we didn't realise the extent of their ignorance.

Take their coverage of today's meeting between Cardinal Brady and a group of "survivors".  Ruth Gledhill is always good for overstatement such as "Overturning a centuries-old tradition of deference towards the Roman Catholic hierarchy in Ireland". 

Centuries ago the hierarchy were on the run from the Ruth's fellow countrymen, not experiencing deference from anyon...

There are lots of good articles doing the rounds about the so-called abuse crisis - some simply providing the basic information on who did what and when, others expand a little.  This one by Sean Murphy takes Christopher Hitchens to task.  And we have some of the old reliables - George Weigel and John Allen.

But I want to draw your attention to an excellent article from a secular/humanist/atheist perspective by a guy called Brendan O'Neill.  I was going to summarise it but I think you should r...

Prayer for the Church in Ireland

God of our fathers,
renew us in the faith which is our life and salvation,
the hope which promises forgiveness and interior renewal,
the charity which purifies and opens our hearts
to love you, and in you, each of our broth...

From the Sunday Independent, 6 December 2009:

Cardinal Sean Brady yesterday heaped further pressure on the Bishop of Limerick over his handling of child sexual abuse complaints while he worked in Dublin.

The Catholic Primate of All Ireland and Archbishop of Armagh said he had been in contact with Dr Murray and was confident that the bishop would "do the right thing".

The pressure on Dr Murray to stand aside intensified considerably after Cardinal Sean Brady publicly expressed his unease over...

You really have to wonder if our church has learned anything during this abuse crisis. 

On the 19th January this letter appeared in the Irish Times in response to a letter by Pat Buckley, Bishop of Larne, Omeath and the Isles.

Madam, – Pat Buckley (Letters, January 13th) inaccurately stated that, at the time of his “sacking”, Fr Brendan Smyth “was ministering in Down and Connor with the knowledge and consent of its then bishop, Cahal Daly”.

It should be noted that Fr Brendan Smyth, ...

Apparently the Children's Ombudsman is not at all happy with the HSE.  She had stopped her investigation into their part in the Cloyne abuse saga because they are refusing to cooperate.  Seems the only document they sent was a photocopy of an already publicly available document.  And then on foot of continuing request from the Ombudsman, they wanted to negotiate via senior counsel.  The Ombudsman decided not to waste public many and called a halt to her investigations while going public on th...