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Dear Oliver,

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I do not think there is much to expect or to hope for in the way of change as long as Benedict remains in office.

Nor am I aware of any pressure coming from the world-wide Catholic community in favour of reform.

The current debate has been centered exclusively around sex abuse cases that have been made public by victims and their families through the media. So far as the silent majority of the one billion plus Catholics in the world is concerned, it's business as usual.

Nobody has suggested that children and adolescents should never be left alone in the sole company of a priest, no matter how holy and angelical he may appear. Nor has anybody suggested that children and adolescents should be permanently dispensed from attending the confessional.

It is the victims and their families who are manifesting their pain, outrage and anger, not the silent majority.

It is the victims and their families who are doing everything in their power to bring the criminals and their accomplices to justice, not the public authorities, the police, the courts, the governments, or society in general.

Responsible governments may one day recognize that the Catholic church has gone a little too far in its desire to control the minds, bodies and souls of the children of the world, and place them under its protection.

It is interesting to note that under British law, it is an offence to sell or supply liqueur confectionery to a child under 16. The individual under 18 also commits an offence if he buys or tries to buy alcohol, or is supplied with it in a club. Further, it is an offence for another to try and buy, or have alcohol supplied to him, on behalf of a child.

It would seem appropriate that legislators around the world should also extend their protective arm to the prevention of sexual abuse of "individuals under the age of 18" by representatives of religious organisations and their accomplices.

Unfortunately, Oliver, I doubt that it will happen in our life time.

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"Unfortunately, Oliver, I doubt that it will happen in our life time."

I fear you are correct.

Where I probably sound like a worn-out record is on the matter of ridding the Church of the cover-up cardinals and bishops. Systemic change is needed. Else, in our life time, as you say, it will go on and on and on.

Some OLO Christians openingly agree that paedophile priests should go; but,once the Pope, cardinals and bishops are in the cross-hairs, the excuses come out. Catholics protect their Church and its senior clerics, somehow rationalising their behaviour.

It is usual for a prosecutor to allow a plea bargin for a reduced sentence if a criminal "squeals". I wonder if that is what the Vatican fears. One insider bishop turning over ten others to avoid jail time.

Politicians would have to be living under a rock not to realise what is going-on and to appreciate downgrading diplomatic relationships with the Vatican would help prosecutors, but do nothing. I have certainly not heard a word from Rudd or Abbott.

I plan to keep an eye on "the bishops are not employees of the Vatican" defense.

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Dear Oliver,

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" ... the matter of ridding the Church of the cover-up cardinals and bishops ..."

I fully share your concerns. The traditional role of the Church as a sanctuary does not justify covering up sexual abuse committed by its own staff on children and adolescents placed under its care and protection. Quite the contrary.

It is now common knwledge that ordained priests in every country in the world where the Catholic church is firmly established have constantly and willingly violated the sanctuary that the Church is supposed to represent and which it is their duty to defend.

It is difficult to imagine anything more cynical on the part of the Church than to cover up for those of its members who deliberately betrayed its confidence and violated the very sanctuary that it was their sacred duty to defend.

They have betrayed the Church just as Judas is reported to have betrayed Jesus. There is no reason why their fate should be any different from that of Judas.

In a similar cartesion fashion, I consider that when a body has suffered a severe traumatism, the first priority is to stop the bleeding, do whatever you can for the victim, and finally, establish the responsibilities.

So far as I can judge, the Church, and Benedict in particular, has done little else than react defensively to accusations by the victims and their families.

The whole world saw God's chief representative kneel down at Easter and wash feet, but it was the (impeccably clean) feet of one of his staff, not the (dirty) feet of one of his victims.

And nobody, including Benedict, has done anything yet to stop the bleeding.

That is my chief concern and, I imagine, should normally be the chief concern of most Catholic parents.

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Dear Banjo,

Dear Banjo,

"The whole world saw God's chief representative kneel down at Easter and wash feet, but it was the (impeccably clean) feet of one of his staff, not the (dirty) feet of one of his victims."

Very well put. Or, as Edward Gibbob states:

"Our serious thoughts will suggest to the apostles themselves were chosen by providence among the fisherman of Galilee, and that the lower depress the temporal condition of the first the Christians, the more reason we shall find to admire the merit and success. It is incumbent on us diligently to remember, that the kingdom of Heaven was promised to the poor in spirit and that minds afflicted by calamity and the contempt of mankind, cheerfully listen to the divine promise of future happiness; while, on the contrary, the fortunate are satisfied with the passion of this world; and the wise abuse in doubt and dispute their vain superiority of reason and knowledge” – Gibbon (1776)

The "Shoes of a Fisherman" I suspect have not been worn since c. 250 CE when administrative bishoprics formed and were thrown in the trash by Constantine (325 CE).

Obviously, the Catholic Church always the intermediation card up it sleeve, as cliamed by many of the faithful.

I somehow doubt Catholic laity have it them to tackle the abuse problem, because they feel clerics somewhat superior and closer to their god. We don't see 50,000 Catholic in St Peter's Square demanding action and I feel we never will.

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Dear Oliver

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I see you have just chalked up a century on Mary's forum. Quite a remarkable score. Really great chatting. But the light is fading and it's time to call it a day.

Just a final word before heading for the stands:

The daylight is dying
Away in the west,
The wild birds are flying
In silence to rest;
In leafage and frondage
Where shadows are deep,
They pass to its bondage-
The kingdom of sleep.
And watched in their sleeping
By stars in the height,
They rest in your keeping,
Oh, wonderful night.

When night doth her glories
Of starshine unfold,
'Tis then that the stories
Of bush-land are told.
Unnumbered I hold them
In memories bright,
But who could unfold them,
Or read them aright?

Beyond all denials
The stars in their glories
The breeze in the myalls
Are part of these stories.
The waving of grasses,
The song of the river
That sings as it passes
For ever and ever,
The hobble chains rattle,
The calling of birds,
The lowing of cattle
Must blend with the words.

Without these indeed, you
Would find it ere long,
As though I should read you
The words of a song
That lamely would linger
When lacking the rune,
The voice of the singer,
The lilt of the tune.

But, as one half-hearing
An old-time refrain,
With memory clearing,
Recalls it again,
These tales roughly wrought of
The bush and its ways,
May call back a thought of
The wandering days,
And, blending with each
In the mem'ries that throng,
There haply shall reach
You some echo of song.

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