Clerical criminals must be punished too

WITH reference to Fr Con McGillicuddy’s letter (‘Churchmen castigated for not being perfect’, March 30), I feel it would be impossible to operate the legal and criminal justice systems if there was a requirement that all its administrators had to be “without sin”.

We are not talking about stoning, but we do need to be able to punish lawbreakers and that includes those who are accessories to criminal behaviour.

Does Fr McGillicuddy seriously suggest that criminal acts by clerics should go unpunished due to an absence of sinless gardaí or judges, and if he is suggesting that, why should lay criminals be treated more harshly?