"I "tend to believe most of the allegations against priests"
Sorry Joe, but the whole phrase oozes condescention, to me at least.
Your 'tending to believe' suggests that there might be some lingering doubt.
There is no doubt at all that these crimes were committed.
There is no doubt at all that the church - from top to bottom - facilitated these crimes and colluded in hiding them so the criminals might continue their abusive behaviour - for decades, in some cases, and, when they finally were discovered, remain unpunished.
There is no doubt at all that the the church as a body is continuing to hinder further investigations into the crimes, as they have done from the very beginning.
There is no doubt at all that little more than lip-service has been paid to the part played by the church as a organisation in the whole sordid affair, and this being the case, those victims continue to suffer by being treated as 'a problem to be solved' rather than the victims of a horrendous crime.
The only remaining doubt is the enormity of the crimes and how long they have been going on.
These are not the crimes of individuals; they are crimes committed by the church as a body - the only thing that is in doubt is how much more remains to be discovered.
There is little, if any "recycling of old stories", (another phrase which casts doubt on the seriousness and the extent of these crimes); you make it sound as if the media are scraping the bottom of the sensation barrel to keep the affair alive. We still know very little about the cases that have been uncovered so far - the Brendan Smyth affair, recently aired here on television, only hit the fan because of the depths of the man's depravity and the lengths to which the church as an organisation went in covering up his crimes - he actually caused the fall of an Irish government. He never once showed anything but contempt for his victims and died in prison after serving only two years of his sentence.
What should happen now?
The church must throw open its books to the world in order that we know who these people are, what they did and to what extent the church knowingly allowed it to happen - the holocaust victims of the Nazis were granted at least that - eventually (I have heard the abuses being referred to as 'Ireland's second holocaust - the Great Famine being the first).
Whether the victims of the atrocities are paid compensation and how much, should be decided openly and include full consulation with those victims and anybody else effected adversely by the affair; a full recognition of the events would at least restore some dignity to their lives.
And finally - something that is starting to happen slowly - the church must play no part, certainly no compulory part, in the education of children, and be no more than spiritual guides to those who voluntarily seek them out for advice - which is what they should always have been.
Jim Carroll