Reporting abuse - Evil minority tarnish those who do good

An elderly nun who was interviewed by RTÉ news in Cobh in the aftermath of the publication of the Cloyne report expressed disappointment that even though only a small percentage of religious were involved in any form of abuse, the issue received such a tremendous amount of publicity.

There is little doubt that this nun — like so many devoted clerical and lay people within the Church — has devoted most of her life in unselfish service to those most in need within the communities in which she lived.

This nun and other silent heroes in our midst must, at times like this, undoubtedly wonder why so much media coverage is devoted to such scandals, while the tremendous good that so many of them are responsible for, especially in tending the sick and the elderly, merits barely a mention.

To them we can only say that one of — if not the most — important roles of a free media in any society is to report and highlight fully and without fear or favour many of the more negative and unsavoury aspects of our society in the hope that by so doing, we play some part in ensuring that such things do not happen again.

That task becomes all the harder, but never more important, when it involves a body in which so many place their trust.

A failure by the media to highlight the awful extent of the betrayal of trust that occurred within the Church for so many years would, however, be a further betrayal of the priests, nuns, brothers and many laity who bring so much solace to the most in need in our society.

While other countries revel in their conquering armies, the Irish equivalent throughout the 20th century was undoubtedly the army of idealistic young people who volunteered to serve abroad, tending the spiritual, physical and educational needs of the underprivileged scattered throughout the globe.

It is the duty of the media, in memory of those who served in that army and who continue to do so, to highlight the failings in the Church that they serve so faithfully.

We do so and will continue to do so not because of any antipathy to that or any other church.

We do so because we believe the silent majority who work so hard and largely without reward for the spiritual, emotional and physical betterment of their societies and the people who live in them do not deserve to be tarnished by the cruel and evil actions — and inaction — of a few in their midst.

The elderly nun in Cobh deserves that much.