# Decades Of Child Abuse In Ireland: Surprise - Catholic Church Responsible! **URL:** \ **Category:** The BBQ Pit\ **Created:** [May 20, 2009, 6:54pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/decades-of-child-abuse-in-ireland-surprise-catholic-church-responsible/497099 "2009-05-20T18:54:48Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 18\ **Page:** 8
**Author:** ![Skald\_the\_Rhymer](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/ecccb3/32.png) [@Skald\_the\_Rhymer](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Skald_the_Rhymer)\ **Post date:** [May 26, 2009, 12:39am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/decades-of-child-abuse-in-ireland-surprise-catholic-church-responsible/497099/141 "2009-05-26T00:39:37Z")
> [@kaylasdad99](#): > > I was born in '56, and was permitted (in a Catholic school, yet!) to let my inner sinister demon possess me. > > And I have terrible handwriting. And I could never get a fountain pen to make a mark on a piece of paper. So I always used ball-points. Later I learned about left-handed nibs. Despite having attending Catholic high school and college, I grew up in a Pentecostal church in which my father is still a minister. An large portion of its members are simple folks, farmers, the common clay of the mid-south. ---
**Author:** ![Bryan\_Ekers](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/bryan_ekers/32/183_2.png) [@Bryan\_Ekers](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Bryan_Ekers)\ **Post date:** [May 26, 2009, 1:19am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/decades-of-child-abuse-in-ireland-surprise-catholic-church-responsible/497099/142 "2009-05-26T01:19:15Z")
> [@Skald\_the\_Rhymer](#): > > Despite having attending Catholic high school and college, I grew up in a Pentecostal church in which my father is still a minister. An large portion of its members are simple folks, farmers, the common clay of the mid-south. So… morons? ---
**Author:** ![Boyo\_Jim](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/b/87869e/32.png) [@Boyo\_Jim](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Boyo_Jim)\ **Post date:** [May 26, 2009, 2:49am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/decades-of-child-abuse-in-ireland-surprise-catholic-church-responsible/497099/143 "2009-05-26T02:49:42Z")
> [@Bryan\_Ekers](#): > > Abusing children is all well and good - it toughens them up - but abusing left-handers? That’s beyond the pale! > Born '69, lefty, never had a problem or was forced to conform, though I heard stories of a great-uncle who was. Your left-handed ancestors sacrificed so you could have the freedom to wipe your ass with either hand! ---
**Author:** ![Skald\_the\_Rhymer](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/ecccb3/32.png) [@Skald\_the\_Rhymer](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Skald_the_Rhymer)\ **Post date:** [May 26, 2009, 3:00am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/decades-of-child-abuse-in-ireland-surprise-catholic-church-responsible/497099/144 "2009-05-26T03:00:12Z")
> [@Bryan\_Ekers](#): > > So… morons? Cleavon Little did not die in vain! Yeah, I know it was Gene Wilder’s character who said that. But Gene Wilder isn’t dead, unless something’s changed since this morning. Who’s supposed to be keeping Gene Wilder alive, anyway? I know it’s not me; I’m in charge of keeping Don Wildmon, Fred Phellps, and Anne Coulter alive, and that’s three full time jobs right there. The archangel Uriel’s tried to killed all three of time four times just today. ---
**Author:** ![SteveG1](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/bb73d2/32.png) [@SteveG1](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/SteveG1)\ **Post date:** [May 26, 2009, 3:11am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/decades-of-child-abuse-in-ireland-surprise-catholic-church-responsible/497099/145 "2009-05-26T03:11:15Z")
> [@Skald\_the\_Rhymer](#): > > I’m in charge of keeping Don Wildmon, Fred Phellps, and Anne Coulter alive, and that’s three full time jobs right there. The archangel Uriel’s tried to killed all three of time four times just today. How do you kill That Which Has No Life? ---
**Author:** ![Skald\_the\_Rhymer](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/ecccb3/32.png) [@Skald\_the\_Rhymer](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Skald_the_Rhymer)\ **Post date:** [May 26, 2009, 3:19am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/decades-of-child-abuse-in-ireland-surprise-catholic-church-responsible/497099/146 "2009-05-26T03:19:47Z")
> [@SteveG1](#): > > How do you kill That Which Has No Life? How the hell should I know? I’m not in charge of KILLING Coulter. I’m in charge of KEEPING [del]her[/del] it from being killed. I just have to keep the archangels armed with swords of heavenly fire and the ineffable name of you-know-who occupied while the junior agents relocate the Dark Blonde. ---
**Author:** ![Boyo\_Jim](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/b/87869e/32.png) [@Boyo\_Jim](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Boyo_Jim)\ **Post date:** [May 26, 2009, 3:27am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/decades-of-child-abuse-in-ireland-surprise-catholic-church-responsible/497099/147 "2009-05-26T03:27:43Z")
> [@Skald\_the\_Rhymer](#): > > …Who’s supposed to be keeping Gene Wilder alive, anyway? I know it’s not me; I’m in charge of keeping Don Wildmon, Fred Phellps, and Anne Coulter alive, and that’s three full time jobs right there. The archangel Uriel’s tried to killed all three of time four times just today. Do us all a favor. Take a nice vacation. ---
**Author:** ![Skald\_the\_Rhymer](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/ecccb3/32.png) [@Skald\_the\_Rhymer](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Skald_the_Rhymer)\ **Post date:** [May 26, 2009, 3:35am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/decades-of-child-abuse-in-ireland-surprise-catholic-church-responsible/497099/148 "2009-05-26T03:35:44Z")
> [@Boyo\_Jim](#): > > Do us all a favor. Take a nice vacation. Jim, Jim, Jim, Jim, Jim, Jim, JIM! What possible good could come out of killing any of them? Wildmon would become a martyr. Phelps has already spawned. And every time you kill an entity of Coulter’s ilk, two more take her place. And the whole “apply fire to the stump to cauterize it and bury the immortal head under a boulder” does NOT work. Somebody always comes along and moves the boulder and then all the other heads spontaneously regenerate and the next thing you know you have Bob Jones College. ---
**Author:** ![mudkicker](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/d6d6ee/32.png) [@mudkicker](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/mudkicker)\ **Post date:** [June 3, 2009, 8:57am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/decades-of-child-abuse-in-ireland-surprise-catholic-church-responsible/497099/149 "2009-06-03T08:57:55Z")
The Ryan report is shameful, and what I find almost as bad as the abuse is the lack of responsibility taken for it by the Catholic church. Every victim, worldwide, should sue. What is almost as bad is, as some posters have pointed out, those making excuses for it by saying ‘It was all so long ago’; ‘It was just a few bad apples’; ‘I never saw it happen so it mustn’t have.’ There was a [particularly distasteful comment apologist comment piece in the Guardian about it last week](http://www.guardian.co.uk/commentisfree/belief/2009/may/20/catholic-abuse-ireland), to which I did a [rebuttal](http://www.guardian.co.uk/commentisfree/belief/2009/may/21/priest-abuse-ireland-catholic). The Catholic church is a rotten institution and I would love to see it bankrupted over this. ---
**Author:** ![Hrududu](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/h/3ec8ea/32.png) [@Hrududu](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Hrududu)\ **Post date:** [June 3, 2009, 12:23pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/decades-of-child-abuse-in-ireland-surprise-catholic-church-responsible/497099/150 "2009-06-03T12:23:36Z")
Its outrageous that the government made this deal with the church. None of these men will ever be brought to justice. This guy says is better than I ever could. [http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=9jHqndf9Kx4](http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=9jHqndf9Kx4) ---
**Author:** ![Cumberdale](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/c/8c91f0/32.png) [@Cumberdale](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Cumberdale)\ **Post date:** [June 3, 2009, 11:48pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/decades-of-child-abuse-in-ireland-surprise-catholic-church-responsible/497099/151 "2009-06-03T23:48:16Z")
Funny how **Carol Stream** and her ilk have vanished from this thread. ---
**Author:** ![vivalostwages](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/v/d07c76/32.png) [@vivalostwages](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/vivalostwages)\ **Post date:** [June 4, 2009, 1:57am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/decades-of-child-abuse-in-ireland-surprise-catholic-church-responsible/497099/152 "2009-06-04T01:57:55Z")
> [@mudkicker](#): > > The Ryan report is shameful, and what I find almost as bad as the abuse is the lack of responsibility taken for it by the Catholic church. Every victim, worldwide, should sue. > > What is almost as bad is, as some posters have pointed out, those making excuses for it by saying ‘It was all so long ago’; ‘It was just a few bad apples’; ‘I never saw it happen so it mustn’t have.’ There was a [particularly distasteful comment apologist comment piece in the Guardian about it last week](http://www.guardian.co.uk/commentisfree/belief/2009/may/20/catholic-abuse-ireland), to which I did a [rebuttal](http://www.guardian.co.uk/commentisfree/belief/2009/may/21/priest-abuse-ireland-catholic). The Catholic church is a rotten institution and I would love to see it bankrupted over this. You produced an excellent rebuttal. ---
**Author:** ![mudkicker](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/d6d6ee/32.png) [@mudkicker](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/mudkicker)\ **Post date:** [June 4, 2009, 5:17am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/decades-of-child-abuse-in-ireland-surprise-catholic-church-responsible/497099/153 "2009-06-04T05:17:21Z")
Thank you. It was one of those rare Guardian comment pieces that almost all readers agreed with - Comment is Free readers are notoriously hard to please and can be very scathing. That’s not down to my writing here though, more an indication of how almost everyone feels about this issue. The Catholic church sickens many more people than me, obviously… ---
**Author:** ![yojimbo](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/yojimbo/32/232_2.png) [@yojimbo](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/yojimbo)\ **Post date:** [June 4, 2009, 9:19am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/decades-of-child-abuse-in-ireland-surprise-catholic-church-responsible/497099/154 "2009-06-04T09:19:47Z")
> [@Hrududu](#): > > This guy says is better than I ever could. > [http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=9jHqndf9Kx4](http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=9jHqndf9Kx4) I saw that live. One of the most powerful statements I’ve ever heard in my life. It reduced me to tears. ---
**Author:** ![An\_Gadai](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/a/d6d6ee/32.png) [@An\_Gadai](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/An_Gadai)\ **Post date:** [June 4, 2009, 1:20pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/decades-of-child-abuse-in-ireland-surprise-catholic-church-responsible/497099/155 "2009-06-04T13:20:53Z")
> [@yojimbo](#): > > I saw that live. One of the most powerful statements I’ve ever heard in my life. It reduced me to tears. Me too. ---
**Author:** ![filmore](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/f/7993a0/32.png) [@filmore](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/filmore)\ **Post date:** [June 4, 2009, 5:18pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/decades-of-child-abuse-in-ireland-surprise-catholic-church-responsible/497099/156 "2009-06-04T17:18:18Z")
The church needs to have the policy “If a member of the organization commits a crime, it will be reported to the authorities.” As it is now, I still feel that they act like they are free to cover up whatever crimes they feel like. Maybe they didn’t have an explicit policy to cover up embarassing crimes, but they certainly behaved like they did. I can recall an episode of “Intervention”\* dealing with compulsive gambling. One of the women stole 100,000’s of dollars from her church. The priest didn’t report it because “it was something they preferred to deal with themselves.” It’s the attitude of deciding which crimes to report that makes me really not trust these religious organizations. \*I’m not sure if the church was Catholic in this episode, but the attitude certainly seems in line with the coverup philosophy of dealing with sin themselves. ---
**Author:** ![Miltonyz](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/85f322/32.png) [@Miltonyz](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Miltonyz)\ **Post date:** [June 4, 2009, 6:22pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/decades-of-child-abuse-in-ireland-surprise-catholic-church-responsible/497099/157 "2009-06-04T18:22:22Z")
That was an amazing speech. I had to check the subtitles at times but even at less then 100% comprehension you can hear the anger and hurt in that mans voice. ---
**Author:** ![Paul\_in\_Qatar](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/p/ccd318/32.png) [@Paul\_in\_Qatar](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Paul_in_Qatar)\ **Post date:** [June 5, 2009, 3:37am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/decades-of-child-abuse-in-ireland-surprise-catholic-church-responsible/497099/158 "2009-06-05T03:37:59Z")
Damn that is an excellent and interesting video. Thanks. [Previous page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/decades-of-child-abuse-in-ireland-surprise-catholic-church-responsible/497099.md?page=7)