Cranberry sauce

Have a look around, and you’ll find plenty of calls to jail senior catholic churchmen for their roles in obstructing the course of justice. There’s even been a misreported story that Richard Dawkins wants to arrest the pope.

In that light, it’s worth noting that it’s only this month that Vatican has said for the first time that the right thing to do when hearing a report of child abuse is to contact the civil authorities.

If that seems surprising, have a read of the Murphy report. It describes Desmond Connell’s difficulty in deciding whether he had a duty to report criminal offences by his priests. Canon law trumped Irish law, in the cardinal’s opinion.

As a result, several journalists have taken to pointing out that, never mind the civic law which the catholic church had problems recognising, even by their own standards, they have failed miserably to protect children.

Then again, this is an organisation that apparently believes in hidden messages in Beatles records which “put out mysterious messages that were possibly even Satanic“. So there you are. The curia, as crazy as Charles Manson.

Still, I’m sure the pope will rest easy tonight knowing Ringo has forgiven him.

By Gerard Cunningham

Gerard Cunningham occupies his time working as a journalist, writer, sub-editor, blogger and podcaster, yet still finds himself underemployed.