DUBLIN (IRELAND)
Irish Independent [Dublin, Ireland]
November 10, 2022
Just when you think that the era of clerical sex abuse is over, it inevitably returns to haunt the institutional Catholic Church, re-traumatise its many victims and survivors and scandalise people of faith.
The same pattern as previously adopted by church authorities to protect its image has re-emerged in the Spiritan abuse cases (Irish Independent, November 8).
Once again, abusers were moved on to prey on further vulnerable people. However, the exporting of its abusing priest to Africa adds a further depth of depravity.
It was not a one-off, exclusive move adopted solely by the Spiritan order. It was a common strategy used by religious orders to get rid of its troublesome priests.
Brendan Butler
Drumcondra, Dublin
Just what sort of person was too bad for the priesthood?
The context of current abuse revelations in Blackrock College prompts the question: “What sort of applicants for the priesthood were rejected?”
Mattie Lennon
Blessington, Co Wicklow