lox

A lack of dispute does not constitute the same thing as an admission.

I never suggested otherwise. I simply stated the current reported position in Ireland, given that some of the comments in this thread display some ignorance of that position. If and when there is confirmation or otherwise of the claim, I will let you know.

More generally, can I reiterate that the core of the PRESENT controversy is the response of the bishops to their own knowledge, over the years, of clerical abuse of children, homosexual and otherwise? To divert that focus to the indisputable horrors of the abuse itself only encourages the tendency of the hierarchy to deplore the abuse and apologise for their own "failure to deal with it". It was not a "failure" but a very successful, as far as it went, strategy to protect the church from "scandal". Until individual bishops face up to this, they - and a dwindling number of conservative Catholics - can wring their hands in anguish - and continue to protect a church which has seriously lost its moral way.


Regards