Secrecy fails to instill confidence

The report alleging Catholic bishops were ordered to cover up sexual abuse under pain of excommunication questions the assertions of the Church on its attitude to this problem.

The secret Vatican document, which sets out procedures for dealing with allegations of sex abuse by priests, has been published in the US and Britain.

What is even more disturbing, is that the document bears the seal of Pope John XXIII, one of the most popular of modern popes, and calls for the “strictest” secrecy in dealing with abuse allegations within the Church.