Vatican II was a major housecleaning, Ed. It was a time of really honest introspection, and many of the medievalisms that allowed such things as the Magdalene Laundries, were cast aside. To a great extent, much of the theological work done after Thomas Aquinas (1225-1274) was ignored, as was much of the doctrine promulgated during those 700 years after Aquinas. It was recognized that the Church had been a political entity for most of the millennium, and much was done to move away from involvement in political intrigue. Still, the Catholic Church is deeply flawed. And we have far more than our fair share of hypocrites.

So, no, it's not fair to judge the Catholic Church primarily by things that happened before Vatican II. That being said, the peak of child molestation by priests seems to have been 1970-1985 in both the U.S. and Europe, and I don't know why. At least in the U.S., the Catholic Church spent millions of dollars on programs that were supposed to cure molesting priests. Unfortunately, the programs didn't work like the bishops expected them to.

And I will repeat that it is simply not fair to judge the current Catholic Church or anyone by what happened in the mother and baby homes, the industrial schools, and the Magdalene Laundries. These institutions had largely been abandoned by the mid-1980s, and rightly so. All of the voices above who condemn these institutions, are correct in doing so - and I join them in their condemnation, even though they did not invite me to do so. Nonetheless, in the name of fairness, I repeat that if you wish to find fault with an institution, you had better be prepared to use more recent evidence.

And Jim Carroll, please note that I agree with you that it is wrong for religious schools to be the only option available to taxpayers who wish to educate their children. Non-religious schools must be the primary education system. When religion is supported by taxes, religion becomes beholden to political interests.

-Joe Offer-