Second Wave Of The Opening Salvo...

I said it before. If the Seal is no longer considered sacrosanct, then nothing is sacred. Literally.

This has absolutely nothing to do with child abuse. That just makes a convenient justification for the attack on the Church.

First of all Ireland. I might be wrong, but, from what I can glean on the internet, this doesn't appear to be something the Irish MPs will get a chance to vote on, it seems to be being added on to other legislation. I seriously hope that I am wrong on this.

And now it seems that Australia wants to join in. If we are silent in the face of this attack, it will gain momentum. Having scented blood in the water, the feeding frenzy will soon be under way.

I'll say it again. Paedophilia is being used as an excuse. And what a great excuse it is! The sexual abuse of children has, after all, been carried out by Catholic priests, and it has been covered up by Catholic bishops. And Catholics all go to Confession. Therefore, it stands to reason, doesn't it, that those priests must have confessed their crimes to those bishops (and other priests) and they were all protected by the Seal of Confession...

That's the logic of Joe Public. It's fuelled by statements in the press such as those given by by the Taoiseach, Enda Kenny, which distort and misrepresent the facts. Most of us, faced with this "logic" keep quiet: the issue of child abuse is an emotive one, and any attempt to introduce notes of caution or correction are seized upon and castigated as attempts to downplay or negate the seriousness of the crime.

Child abuse is an appalling crime.

But we have to remove the emotive language, the distortions and the false assumptions in order that we can treat the issue with the seriousness it deserves.

It is important to note that the abuse of children is not peculiar to the Catholic Church. It happens in all areas of society. Research by Dr. Thomas Plante of Stanford University, (reported last year in the Catholic Herald) actually suggests that children who have anything to do with Catholic priests are between 1.6 and four times less likely to be abused by them than by anyone else. That is not to excuse the abuse carried out by priests, and it is understandable that one would expect higher standards from the Church... but, nevertheless, we must not act as if the Church alone is responsible for abuse.

We cannot stand by in silence while the Church is being attacked. We must make our opposition clear.

We also need to pray for our priests.