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I specifically avoided labeling the British and Scottish governments as Protestants because I detest the sort of ad hominem attacks on religions that you are using. I like to believe that the indescribably evil things that were done despite the Christianity of leaders of the Church of England (Anglican), the Church of Scotland (Presbyterian), and the Church of Ireland (Protestant, despite its laughably inaccurate name), not because of it, just as I attribute the malfeasance of Catholic bishops to cowardice in following the advice of secular lawyers and psychiatrists, rather than the ecumenical councils which demand that such evil-doers be defrocked.

It didn't stop others who stated:

Imagine the irony: the anti-Catholic governments of Britain, Scotland and Ireland (then under the British) commit genocide against the Irish. Eventually, their boot is lifted off the neck of the Irish, but the devastating poverty and social dislocation remain for decades. And then finally, the horrors caused by the British and Scottish are blamed on the religion they sought to destroy!

I doubt the opinion is only that of the polemical poster. The malice expressed towards everyone and anyone who didn't drop lock-step in defense of the Catholic church was sudden and vindictive. If someone can be accused of thinking the worst, so can those who only think the BEST, in spite of other clues beyond the existence of a septic tank vs. crypt being used for body disposal. When these innocent children were starving to death, raggedly dressed, malnourished and scorned by society, were the bishops suffering as well? Was the Vatican doing everything within its power to ensured those entrusted to their care were taken care of? Did the Pope miss a meal in solidarity???

Tell me, in this assertion of a superior structure within the Catholic church compared to more locally governed non-Catholic ones, has it prevented the scandals that ARE proved to have happened? Does the Catholic church have such an unblemished and sterling reputation that the very thought they might have allowed such things to happen is unthinkable? Do Catholics genuinely wonder why the "world" accepts these kinds of reports so readily? Sure, some of it might be their general hatred of all things relating to God, Christianity, in particular, but it's more than a bit myopic to ascribe it ALL to that.

Actually, that other poster was ALSO me. And you’ll notice I made no reference whatsoever to the religion of the genocidal terrorists attempting to stomp out the Irish people.

>> The malice expressed towards everyone and anyone who didn’t drop lock-step in defense of the Catholic church was sudden and vindictive. <<

Oh, please. The only people who were criticized were the ones who immediately used the article to bash the Catholic church, immediately dropping their suspicion of the left-wing Christian-bashing Washington Post the moment the target was Catholicism.

>> When these innocent children were starving to death, raggedly dressed, malnourished and scorned by society, were the bishops suffering as well? Was the Vatican doing everything within its power to ensured those entrusted to their care were taken care of? Did the Pope miss a meal in solidarity??? <<

Actually, yes. Pretty much all Catholics fasted as a means of atoning for the suffering of those less fortunate. But the issue by the 1940s wasn’t so much starving to death as diseases made common by poor living conditions. Again, though: see how you shift the focus away from the fantastic evil of those who caused the suffering, who happened to be Protestants, and put it back on the Catholics.

And while it’s fruitless to blame a religion itself for misdeeds, the horrors of Ireland weren’t merely caused by secular leaders: During the Irish genocide, North Ireland, Scotland, and the UK were filled with Protestant preachers holding up the suffering of Catholics in Ireland as an example of God’s wrath against the “totally depraved” sinners who reject God’s grace.

And in America, during these later horrors, Protestant denominations across America were dropping their opposition to birth control, as Margaret Sanger and Planned Parenthood were preaching the diabolical gospel of controlling Catholics’ population.

Protestantism has the ability to dodge responsibility and change doctrines at a whim, so if a Protestant says, “I reject the attempted genocide by the British, Scottish and Irish governments” or “I reject the paranoid hysteria that led to the KKK lynching Catholic immigrants fleeing the Irish potato famine” (who were a much more frequent target than blacks), there’s pretty much no rebuttal. I simply have to be glad they’ve learned a lesson, even if it’s the Catholics who paid the cost.

But the irony is that while the failures of the Catholic Church leaders to protect children from monsters stemmed from substituting Catholic doctrine with worldly solutions, the KKK, the Irish genocide, etc., all stemmed directly from Protestant preachers CLAIMING to be teaching Protestant doctrine.

“Does the Catholic church have such an unblemished and sterling reputation that the very thought they might have allowed such things to happen is unthinkable?”

Subtract out the propaganda war, and yes, the Church pretty much does have a great reputation. No organization has founded and operated as many hospitals or schools. No organization has fed and clothed so many of the poor. Not even close.

“Do Catholics genuinely wonder why the “world” accepts these kinds of reports so readily?”

More Catholics accept the reports themselves than are able to see through the fog of deception that Satan generates.

“Sure, some of it might be their general hatred of all things relating to God, Christianity, in particular, but it’s more than a bit myopic to ascribe it ALL to that.”

Nobody does. Catholics deeply regret the things that actually happened, but the fact that some things actually happened is not license to accuse the Church of all kinds of things that didn’t happen, or didn’t happen the way the enemies of the Church assert.