"Church in Ireland Sinking as Rot Goes Right to the Top" Article in Irish Times/ Questions for Pope

http://www.irishtim es.com/newspaper /opinion/ 2010/0316/ 1224266350973. html
Tuesday, March 16, 2010
Church in Ireland sinking as rot goes right to the top

ANALYSIS:
" It matters little if Cardinal Brady resigns for he and the church he leads is damaged beyond repair", writes PATSY McGARRY

"IT DID not seem possibile that it could get any worse. It has. The clerical child sex abuse scandal has now spread to the very top in Ireland and in Rome.
We heard at the weekend, through the German press, that in January 1980 the then Archbishop of Munich Joseph Ratzinger approved the transfer of Father “H”, a suspected paedophile, to Munich to undergo therapy."....
Patsy McGarry is Religious Affairs Correspondent

Bridget Mary's Reflection:
The institutional church has failed to protect children and families, and "gutted" its own moral credibility in the sexual abuse debacle that has spread like a fast growing cancer destroying life and causing unimaginable suffering for its victims. By imposing silence on victims and trying cases of clergy sexual abuse in the Vatican under "pontfical secrecy", the hierarchy has betrayed the Catholic Church, the people of God . This a systemic failure and a catastrophe for the church.

In these secret Vatican trials, neither the victims nor accused were present. How could this process be fair? Pope Benedict has many questions to answer. The question is who is the Pope accountable to? God? the people? the Catholic Church?

I pray that this tragedy will be a tipping point for a renewed Catholic Church, where the human dignity and equality of every person will be upheld, where will women will be equals at the table of decision-making, where victims of abuse wll receive compassionate pastoral care and justice, and where all our children and youth will be safe and secure in the sacred spaces where we gather.
Bridget Mary Meehan, RCWP