`Blaming only religious for abuse is a serious injustice'

A subtle form of denial has come into operation since the Ryan Report which offloads all the blame on religious orders the Bishop of Killaloe, Willie Walsh has said.

'I believe that in the wake of the Ryan Report a subtle form of denial has come into operation. By offloading the whole blame on religious orders we rid ourselves of any responsibility and can feel united in condemning the cruel treatment of children', he said.

And Bishop Walsh asks if the bishops participated in this denial.

Erasmusprijs Klik

'And have we as bishops and the wider Church participated in this denial by somehow distancing ourselves from the religious in avoidance of blame? It is a frequent sociological phenomenon for a community to find its identity in its exclusion of certain groups of 'unacceptable people'.

Bishop Walsh goes on to say that something similar has been in operation in recent years in making Child Sexual Abuse a solely Church issue rather than admitting it is a societal issue - 'treating Child Sexual Abuse as simply a Church issue is a denial and an evasion of the truth.'
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