Irish bishops failed to use canonical authority in sex-abuse scandal

July 10, 2012

Michael Kelly writes from Dublin for Catholic World Report to point out that in the Irish sex-abuse scandal the problem was not that canon law failed to provide remedies, but that bishops failed to use them. He notes that the "Murphy Report," exposing the failures of the hierarchy, makes the same point:

The Murphy Report makes it clear that canon law was not the problem that many have assumed it was. In fact, the problem of child abuse by clerics was made worse by the reckless actions of Church officials who simply refused to implement canon law.

 

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Further information:

• Canon Law Was Not the Problem (Catholic World Report)