Journalists clash on roots of Irish scandal, prospects for reform

August 20, 2010

Robert Blair Kaiser, the former Newsweek columnist, told an Irish audience that reform will come to the Church only when the faithful tell their bishops to “get the hell out of your cathedrals.”

Kaiser argued that the Church in Ireland could best recover from the sex-abuse scandal by shaking off the influence of the Vatican and becoming more distinctively Irish. In a response, Michael Kelly of the Irish Catholic argued that an honest inquiry into the roots of the scandal would show that the cover-up of clerical misbehavior in Ireland was engineered not by Vatican officials but by Ireland’s own hierarchy.

 

---

For all current news, visit our News home page.

---

 
Further information:

• Tell bishops to 'get the hell out of our cathedrals', says writer (Irish Independent)