"These things were not done under orders from the Vatican."
In the case of Bessborough, the Vatican intervened directly when the appointed medical officer demanded that the medically inexperined be removed from caring for the children and that sick and infected children be quarantined - a papal representative complained to deValera directly.
Throughout thechild abuse scandal, the hierarchy of the church facilitated further abuse by passing the abusers on to other parishes, and eventually other countries and continue their abusing.
The Vatican still refuses to release documents to surviving abuse victims - see Mea Maxima Culpa.
As I said - not "a few rotten apples" - but a whole blighted tree.
Ireland in the first half of the 20th century was what it was directly due to the influence of the Church
Jim Carroll