Writing an opinion essay in the Irish Times this morning, Jason Berry, who has published two books on the clerical abuse crisis and has written on the subject dating back to the mid-1980s in NCR, writes: "The Catholic Church’s hypocrisy [on dealing with clergy sex abuse] starts right at the top of the organisation."
He argues that while priests have been defrocked for their abuses no bishop has yet similarly been punished.
"Since the 1990s, the Vatican has forced at least 15 bishops and one cardinal (the late Hans Hermann Groer of Austria) to step down for sexual abuse of youngsters," Berry writes. "The Vatican has defrocked dozens of priests but not one bishop has been so punished – they have been removed from office but not from the priesthood."
