Unfortunately, post #40, which quotes the article, blows that out of the water.
The Catholic church agrees the stuff happened (at least to some extent), but that they didn’t see rapes of children as legal offenses to be admitted to civil authorities, but as something that could be dealt with internally, allowing abusers to ultimately be given more kids to rape.
I was shocked, sickened by this, and thought then (and still think now) that this is horribly irresponsible AND criminal.
Especially since most child-abusers seem to be serial abusers (there don't seem to be many one-off cases of child abuse) it suggests life imprisonment as an appropriate response. (Whatever happened to penal exile, e.g. to Botany Bay?)
On the American scene, I see no evidence of prosecuting attorneys going after, for instance, any metropolitan School District's correspondance files and personnel records over the past 60 years so they can comb them for evidence of malfeasance. Hofstra University Researcher Charol Shakeshaft --- Google that name and you'll get tons of information --- not only found a higher incidence of abuse percentage-wise in pubic schools than in Catholic institutions, but found the level of vigilance and safeguards far lower.
(From School Reform News:)
"A few years ago, for example, a review of 412 teachers hired by the Cleveland, Ohio school district disclosed only 26 had undergone required background checks. Not only did 192 school employees have felony convictions, the Cleveland Plain Dealer reported, but 27 of them had three or more."
Evidence of cover-up? Who needs to cover up if nobody is looking?
At least in the last 15 years, Catholic schools/churches is the US have developed the most comprehensive level of background-checks, child-protective measures and supervision of any youth-related services in the world. I expect the Irish church has done, or will do, the same.
I wonder if we'll ever see that level of oversight in the public schools, youth programs, detention centers, and foster care?