Legacy of an authoritarian age when children were seen and not heard

FOLLOWING publication of the Ryan commission report, no doubt the accusing finger will be pointed at the Catholic Church for its failure to monitor the behaviour of the personnel of these orders and take appropriate disciplinary action.

Perhaps in those days there was less of a perceived need to vet the applicant’s aptitude and psychological suitability for such a sensitive roll.

A “vocation” to the priesthood or religious orders was so highly prized that all other failings in the character of an applicant were subordinated to the greater good of serving one’s creator in such an exalted way.