Seven-page report urges members to find their voice

ALTHOUGH the summary of the findings of the apostolic visitation to Ireland is a scant seven pages long, and although it is predicated on the “sinful and criminal acts” at the root of the clerical child sex abuse crisis, it nonetheless finds space on its final page for a statement which doesn’t directly link to the rest of the document.

Just one sentence: “Finally, the visitation attested to the great need for the Irish Catholic community to make its voice heard in the media and to establish a proper relationship with those active in this field, for the sake of making known the truth of the Gospel and the Church’s life.”

It’s not an attack on media, although it is likely to be so interpreted, in the light of the way all mass media have worked to reveal the details of clerical sex abuse, and in the light of comments made to members of the delegation about the ferocity of the coverage, as experienced by religious who felt tainted by association with the cases cover-ed, particularly in television programmes.