Sir, – You report that an inquiry is planned “into sexual abuse by priests in private fee-paying schools” (“Delayed proposals for inquiry into sex abuse at private schools going to Government ‘shortly’”, News, February 14th).
At this stage it is difficult to argue that there isn’t a causal link between mandatory celibacy in particular, and Catholic sexual teaching generally, and clerical sexual abuse.
That said, it can be argued that there is an element of discrimination in confining the inquiry to schools that operated under the Catholic ethos, and within that, restricting the inquiry to priests. – Yours, etc,
TONY FLANNERY,
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