Sir, – Fr Gerard Moloney speaks of the "shame of being an official representative of an institution caught up in yet another storm" ("Latest scandal a further blow to reeling institution", Rite & Reason, June 17th). He writes: "The scandals of the last two decades had nothing to do with me. The abuse and cover-up were not my fault. The culture of moral rectitude and dark secrets that facilitates such behaviour cannot be blamed on anything I did or said."
Of course not. But does Fr Moloney really believe that the only scandals in the Catholic Church are its most recent scandals?
Has not its attitude to women and to gay people over the centuries not been scandalous? Does Fr Moloney feel no shame about such attitudes?
He expresses a wish that the investigations into the mother-and-baby homes “proceed quickly”, as if justice were his only concern, but his article suggests that his primary wish is to see his church “begin the process of recovery”; in other words, he longs for a time when he will no longer have to feel “shame” at his church’s behaviour. Cleaning up the latest mess “quickly” will not remove the shame of being an “official representative” of this organisation.
Fr Moloney is mistaken if he believes that actions alone can be shameful. Teachings can be shameful too. – Yours, etc,
DECLAN KELLY,
Whitechurch Road,
Rathfarnham,
Dublin 14.
Sir, – Fr Gerard Moloney feels “the shame of being an official representative of an institution caught up in yet another storm”. However, the latest “storm”, and others preceding it, only acquired the status of scandal upon being outed and uttered, and not, unfortunately, when they were being perpetrated, officially ignored, hushed up, buried and denied.
A “humbler church” would have conceded that infants born outside marriage are not “illegitimate”, and would repeal the relevant part of its canon law. – Yours, etc,
MICHELE SAVAGE,
Glendale Park,
Dublin 12.
Sir, – Gerard Moloney accuses people with antipathy towards the Catholic Church of being “gleeful” in their anger and of being “thrilled” with the Tuam story.
Thrilled? I admit I have little or no respect left for the Catholic Church. Not just because of the scandals which have emerged in recent years, but also very much because of the ineffective way in which the church has reacted to and dealt with these scandals. To date, their primary focus seems to have been self-preservation and the protection of the institution above all else.
However, to suggest that I and people like me are “thrilled” with the story of a mass grave is nothing short of disgusting. – Yours, etc,
RICHARD MORTON,
Coppinger Glade,
Blackrock,
Co Dublin.