You, Mr. Carroll, are putting words in my mouth. You say, "you have never, as far as I can see, accepted the role that the church AS AN ORGANISATION has had in all these cases." I have always acknowledged The misdeeds were committed by Irish priests, nuns, and others involved in the operation of the institutions. Irish bishops and Irish Catholic religious orders were responsible for oversight of the work done in these institutions. And one would think that there must be Irish government officials who shared responsibility for oversight.

These things were not done under orders from the Vatican.

There is no doubt that what was done in these institutions was wrong, but people have used this tragedy and an excuse for a broad attack against the entire Catholic Church.

And this Tuam story was the most sensational, with people all over the world outraged that Catholic nuns had dumped 800 bodies into a septic tank. To many of them, the fact that it didn't happen, is immaterial.

-Joe Offer-