No defence…

It is not a defence to claim that other areas of society also sexually abuse children.

It is not a defence to claim transparency that only occurred AFTER repeated scandals were hitting the headlines and coming to the courts.The words 'transparency and responsibility' may as well have come from a latin mass in the Middle Ages for all their meaning in today's world!

Sir, you do the Catholic Church and the Christian Faith no service with these 'escapist illusions' in connection with the appalling and horrendous history of the Church in the last 50 years with reference to this subject.

The reality is that whatever misguided efforts  the Catholic Church  actually performed – and for whatever reason – that institution failed miserably in accepting Christ's words about millstones, stumbling blocks and children. The words quoted below (from a BBC article) do not heal these failures, they merely

compound them

.