Church should have no control over schools

LIKE most Irish people, I continue to be shocked and saddened at the abuse of children by people in authority, and to be surprised that any decent people still remaining within the Catholic Church hierarchy seem unable to strongly condemn the abusers and the so-called Canon Law that shields them.

The bishops believe that Canon Law is superior to the law of the land and that gives them authority to ignore legal obligations; this is the nub of the problem.

Any organisation that operates in this state and that propounds a view that its own internal set of rules — be that Sharia law, Canon Law or Ron Hubbard’s theories — is superior to the law of the land is essentially a subversive organisation.