Greg F says: Sorry again, Joe - this wasn't the fault of "society" - it was the fault of those particular individuals who, with premeditation, starved the children to death

Yes, Greg, that's true - but most of those people who committed those crimes fifty years ago are dead. We really don't know yet what those crimes may have been, or who committed them. But still, it was Irish society that established and condoned such institutions.

And for that, all of Ireland is to blame - not only those who are currently Catholic.

Musket, you make the mistake of expecting uniformity from the billion-member Catholic Church. Of course, all those bad elements that you despise, do exist in the Catholic Church. Of course, people acting with the authority of the Catholic Church committed crimes. But organizations of the Catholic Church have also operated excellent schools and hospitals and social programs where problems were few and services were of high quality. Rather than condemning the entire Catholic Church or insisting the Catholics no longer be allowed to educate their children, you have to do the work to sort out what's good and what's bad. Blanket accusations do not apply.

-Joe-