The scandal of sexual and physical abuse of children practiced by the clergy against children placed in their care over many decades has totally broken the grip of the Catholic Church here in Ireland (probably the only good thing to have come out of the whole sordid affair).
Some years ago a woman claiming to have been abused as a child by her priest, attempted to take her case to court. The police applied to obtain the relevant church records to investigate the matter; the bishop not only refused access, but informed the victim that if such a request was made again he would sue her for harassment.
That churchman (O'Connell) is still opposing access to church documents.
Up to relatively recently pedophile churchmen practiced their 'hobbies' freely under the protection of the church hierarchy, who covered up their activities as long as was possible, then moved them on to the next parish to 'continue the good work'.
Child abuse has been a widespread phenomenon in the church in Ireland; so far, I believe we have only seen the tip of the iceberg.
It really isn't good enough to claim that these savages are not 'real Christians'.
Jim Carroll