All I ask for is a balanced perspective, an acknowledgement that most Catholic laity and priests and bishops are as outraged as everyone else about this scandal.

You will realise that in the light of everything that went down it's very hard to balance the few 'no-hassle settlements' you mention with how the church in Ireland handled things in that respect : they sent two 'tough as nails nuns' (description from the other negotiators) who hammered out a deal that capped the financial responsibility of the church in such a way that the state and taxpayer were effectively responsible for any financial compensation of victims of abuse that took place in the church run industrial schools.

Only after reports that revealed the extend of the abuse were published and the pressure of public opinion became too strong most of the orders (though not all) agreed to shoulder the financial burden. Not before some orders made sure the majority of their assets were put out of harm's way though.