Damning indictment of the Church

The survey published yesterday by the Catholic Church in Ireland into child sexual abuse by the clergy, is a damning indictment of the lack of compassion the hierarchy showed in handling cases, and, indeed, their willingness to accept that the scandal existed in the first place.

The survey was commissioned by the Irish Bishops Conference and was conducted by the psychology department of the Royal College of Surgeons in Ireland, and almost 1,300 people participated in it. As the Archbishop of Armagh and Primate of

All-Ireland, Most Rev Seán Brady said, the survey makes for “painful” reading for all involved in the Catholic Church.