That Letter

Other issues and work have kept me from commenting on "That Letter" which RTE and the media have been trying to use to crucify the Church again.  I did not see the documentary on television, but I have heard all about it and have read alot of the commentary since. 

To an open mind it is obvious that RTE is trying to make hay where there is little grass, and their bias against Christianity is blinkering their objectivity leading them to make claims which do not stand up either logically or in justice, but then what is new?

You have probably read excellent articles on the situation: Jimmy Aiken, as always, hits the nail on the head, and John Allen has a very good, objective piece.   But there is also an excellent blog posting by Fr Gabriel Burke which is well worth reading, particularly for my Irish readers.  Reading his piece it I am reminded that the media's concern for the abuse of children seems to be limited as they appear fairly unconcerned about the deaths of 200 children in state care in the last ten years, and as Fr Burke points out, no resignations, no demonstrations on the streets and no great stunts by victims' groups to highlight it.  Of course as many know the real spectre of abuse in Ireland is hidden beneath a veneer of respectability and ideology and it will be extremely difficult to scratch the surface of the problem - and that problem has nothing to do with the Church.   

The Church is now doing what it can to deal with the problem - in fact we now have the strictest Child Protection policy, and that policy is the number one issue in the Church (sometimes leaving other vital issues of Church life and catechises on the back burner).   However, having listening to alot of commentary on the issue of the Vatican letter, I hope some in the Church in Ireland are not using it to get at the Apostolic Visitation, as a means to undermine it and force it in a particular direction.  There is talk that, like the media, some mischevious persons in the Church are also trying to make hay where there is little grass in order to keep a certain ideological status quo in place.  Tisk, tisk, tisk....