Oliver Kamm rightly points out, with regard to child abuse in Ireland, that
The word "scandal" is often overplayed. But in this case, it is scarcely
adequate to the evil that the Roman Catholic Church - not just some
individual, errant priest - has done.
Precisely. That is why I have always felt it repugnant, given his behaviour, that a man such as the former Cardinal, Cormac Murphy O'Connor, should have offered moral lessons to the rest of us. As a BBC profile put it:
It emerged that he had failed to act when a priest, Fr Michael Hill,
became known to him as a paedophile. Instead of informing the police of
the allegations against Hill, he moved him to the chaplaincy at Gatwick Airport where he believed the priest would no longer be a danger to children.