The evidence of Cardinal Seán Brady, retired
Archbishop of Armagh, to the Historical Institutional Abuse Inquiry in
Banbridge, Co Down, cannot be taken seriously. Or else he still doesn’t
get child abuse. He used the word “scandal” to describe the cover-up of
Fr Brendan Smyth’s abuse. This use of language means that Cardinal Brady
sees sexual abuse as a moral issue, not a crime.
His claim that the Catholic Church hierarchy did not
understand paedophilia is irrelevant, and a distraction. No one needs to
understand paedophilia to realise that sexual assaults on children are
criminal acts. Child abuse is like domestic violence and adult rape.
Such crimes are always about the abuse of power and using fear to get
what you want. Child abusers do it because they can, not because they
have irresistible urges.