ake, while I disagree with most of what you post, I would like to point out that this liberal said, way up thread, that the RC needed to stop the celibacy requirement before you ever brought it up.

Also, Joe, you would gain more credence, imo, if you quit referring to Walsh as "Fr." It is not so and is insulting to those he abused and to priests who are not of his ilk (of which there must be some.)

I think it is far too easy for residents of the USA to forget we live in a very liberal society and that the rest of the world is, generally, far from that "free and easy." To suggest a parent in Ireland has only to contact the RC authorities and all will be taken care of, is naive at best. In such a patriarchal institution and society, a woman and her family can be destroyed by those in authority via shunning, calling on damnation they believe in, etc. And, guys, most of you are great and supportive, but most also will never truly understand what it is to be a woman in such a society with male dominance in authority from home to church, etc. It is not easy, even in this country sometimes, for a woman to go to authorities and be believed and supported.

The guilt runs from the highest offices down to the parishes, imo. Anyone who was complicit in covering up deserves to be called to justice. It's incredible, imo, that the RC hasn't turned priests over to the law in the first place for criminal investigations. There is no defence for that, imo, Joe, no matter when it happened.