BBC2 Programme at 9pm tonight: This World - The Shame of the Catholic Church

Just finished watching it.
The most astounding thing to my mind is that there are priests in Ireland (including the top dog) about whom there is documentary evidence that they knew about crimes against children but did not report them to the police - and they are not convicted for failing to do so; and are still in their posts.

For me that is the most incredible thing - that they failed to report to the police. They had internal investigations; but then did not report it - and they get away with it still!

The fact of the abuse does not surprise me in an organisation that tries to subdue normal sexual activity amongst its staff and that has such power over its adherents.

But....they have broken the law in not reporting what they knew - and they go unpunished even now. How can this be?

A brilliant programme. Cardinal Sean Brady was shown up for the snivelling liar that he is. I am at a loss to understand how anyone can continue to support and defend this rotten institution. The people of Ireland have shown their feelings - attendance at mass is down by 50%. They continue to believe in god but no longer trust the church.
The excuse given for their failure to protect children when abuse was known about was that there were no guidelines in place in 1975 - FFS, all that was needed was common decency.
Anyone who failed to report a crime to the police should be prosecuted, no matter how long ago it happened.

Well, I saw the evening news earlier, and there are yet more accusations of cover ups of child abuse. Horrific!