"These stories have been so shrouded in name calling and posturing, that it is impossible to sort out the truth."
That is the point Joe - the truth has been a matter of record, certainly on the clerical abuses, the Industrial Schools and the Magdalene Laundries, for a long time now - the Government has put its hands up to its part in them and compensation has been paid, largely by the taxpayer.
What remains is to ascertain there is a full recognition of why these things took place and that they can never happen again
In order for this to be possible, the church needs to acknowledge its part and pass on all necessary information, mainly to give the victims and their families some sort of public recognition that what happened was wrong - closure.
That has yet to happen.
The only posturing that has taken place here has been that by and in defence of the church.
There has always been a danger that this could be put down to the Catholic religion (pretty much the way things have been labelled 'Muslim' elsewhere.   
Whatever my personal beliefs on religion, I have no wish to see Catholic members of my family or friends and neighbours implicated in any way - they were victims of the church's unacceptable behaviour, as were those who suffered and died in the Homes, industrial schools and Laundries.
Jim Carroll