Hierarchy shamed - A priest is vindicated

It seems it will take longer than might have been expected for the consequences of decades of clerical abuse of children to pass from our daily lives.

When Fr Kevin Reynolds won a libel action against RTÉ, the plight of priests falsely accused of terrible wrongdoing was highlighted in the most dramatic way. That failure has had profound consequences for how these matters are considered and reported.

The latest instalment, when a Kerry woman apologised at the High Court to Fr Liam O’Brien whom she had falsely accused of abusing her, shows how very traumatic such an experience is for an innocent person.

Fr O’Brien has gone through a terrible ordeal which was made all the more difficult by his bishop’s refusal to support him when the false accusation was made.

If this was indeed the case, and we have no reason to believe it was not, then the hierarchy have yet another reason to hang their heads in shame.