Madam, - Breda O'Brien (Opinion, February 11th) has a point regarding to the attention given to people accused of sexual and other abuse when the accused are members of the institutional Catholic Church. It is also arguable that it is not always possible to get a fair trial because of the outrage felt by so many about institutionalised hypocrisy.
On the other hand, as a Catholic, I thank the media for their part in exposing the institutional secret that priests and religious are capable of great wrong. Perhaps the greatest scandal is that such acts sometimes continued because church leaders did not want us to know that priests and religious were sometimes far less perfect than we supposed and were taught. - Yours, etc,
CAITRIONA McCLEAN, Weston Avenue, Lucan, Co Dublin.
Madam, - Congratulations to Breda O'Brien for highlighting the media's obsession with so-called scandals associated with priests (of all denominations).
Perhaps as we approach Lent the media might redress the balance by affirming the huge volume of good work undertaken by our priests. God knows they work long hours in their ministries. - Yours, etc,
TONY CORCORAN, Fairbrook Lawn, Rathfarnham, Dublin 14.