Church and media face public backlash for very different reasons

WHAT an extraordinary week it was. First the media and then the Catholic Church were the subject of official and public odium for totally different reasons.

The appalling treatment of Liam Lawlor's death by the Sunday Independent, and some other papers, brought about a deserved outrageous reaction from leading politicians and the general public.

That outrage was obliterated by the expressions of vilification which followed the publication of the damning Ferns report outlining the decades of horrific abuse that had been inflicted on children.