A little too late: Clerics’ partners and children

Better late than never must be the response to the news that a website has been established to help the partners and children of Catholic priests. 

It would be easier, too, to celebrate the development had it been a Church initiative rather than one established by lay professionals but later endorsed by the Catholic Church.

Pope Francis is leading an unquiet revolution in how institutional Catholicism is regarded across the world by his determination that responses to poverty and inequality should be seen as Christianity in action, but every now and then we are reminded why a figure as charismatic as Francis is so vital to the future of Catholicism.

Though this initiative is welcome, and though the need for it reflects poorly on just a tiny minority of churchmen, it is an unavoidable reminder of the toxic behaviour of some priests and how so many members of the hierarchy turned a blind eye or were equally culpable.

The project needs to be a resounding success if it is to be an effective counterbalance to the cruelty inflicted on innocent individuals.