"Jim was talking in terms of attacking the organisation as a whole"
No I certainly am not - otherwise I would have been pointing my finger at members of my own family, being from an Irish Catholic background.
I have never at any time suggested that parishoners played any part in the abuses, nor do I believe it to be the case. These are crimes committed by church authorities, from priests upward.
"Not one poster is blaming the parishoners, the membership of the RC church".
Quite rightly - but on other threads defenders of the church have stooped as low as blaming the parents of abused children for knowing about the abuses and allowing them to continue.
There is no question of the culpability of the heirarchy of the church throughout the period covered by the abuse reports - that is a matter of record and has led to the resignation of several bishops, though nothing like all of those directly implicated.
What has not been dealt with to any great extent is the role of the Vatican, regarding its actions (or non-actions) while the abuses were taking place and being reported, and more recently, in its obstructing the enquiries and continuing to cover up the truth.
Jim Carroll