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

CWN - 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.

Additional sources for this story
Some links will take you to other sites, in a new window.

An appeal from our founder, Dr. Jeffrey Mirus:

Dear reader: If you found the information on this page helpful in your pursuit of a better Catholic life, please support our work with a donation. Your donation will help us reach five million Truth-seeking readers worldwide this year. Thank you!

Easter Campaign:
Progress toward our Spring 2013 goal ($34,450 to go):
$80,000.00 $45,549.82
43% 57%
Sound Off! CatholicCulture.org supporters weigh in.

All comments are moderated. To lighten our editing burden, only current donors are allowed to Sound Off. If you are a donor, log in to see the comment form; otherwise please support our work, and Sound Off!

There are no comments yet for this item.

Catholic World News Email Newsletter
Donate to Support this Site: Your contribution will be put to good work.
Tour the CatholicCulture.org Site
Shop Amazon to Raise Money for Catholic Culture

Recent Catholic Commentary

Learning from the sick, and from the death of a child May 17
The case for change in Irish abortion law: based on a framework of falsehood May 17
The Smell of the Sheep May 16
Too many missing funds: Catholic institutions need tighter financial controls May 16
What capitalists should learn from the Pope's critique May 16

Top Catholic News

Most Important Stories of the Last 30 Days
Pope strongly supports call for reform in religious life CWN - May 8