I have to say that I have a hard time believing in the helplessness of the poor lay people in the face of the powerful and oppressive clergy. If a child is abused or molested, why don't his parents speak out?

Sorry, Joe, but you really have no sense of the reality of the Catholic church in 20 C. Ireland. None at all...

I continue to maintain that, at this point, the emphasis needs to be on the hierarchy - not on the abusers. The latter are slowly being dealt with and conditions (including a generation of parents who are much less likely to take clerics at face value) put in place to reduce the risk of further incidents - only a fool would expect that it can be prevented completely. The bishops, however, continue to fail to acknowledge their motivation in covering up abuse cases. To me, this represents a moral bankruptcy which can only lead on to further abuse of POWER by a caste which cannot acknowledge its own wrongdoing.

Regards