Children betrayed to protect offending priests

MORE than a decade after the Fr Brendan Smyth scandal, the Cloyne report has reinforced the sense that the Catholic church is still failing our children.

Bishop John Magee’s position is simply untenable.

Far too many child-abusing priests were protected by a hierarchy more concerned about the power of the Catholic church in society than the welfare of children. As the Catholic Church continues to lose its political power, not only here but globally, people will seek their own spiritual path as a result of the betrayal of an all too powerful and abusive institution.