To The Letter Of The Law

It's all right there, in black and white.

The clergy weren't obliged to tell the gardai about the pedophiles in their midst. So for those of you calling on Cardinal Brady to resign, keep in mind that he followed the letter of the law back in 1975 when he helped to cover up the heinous crimes of Father Brendan Smyth.

It wasn't his job to dial the phone after he interviewed two victims and found their reports highly credible. Someone else above him could have made the call, but there was no law per se that required such action.

Father Smyth was nabbed eventually. And convicted on 74 counts of abusing children. Over the course of 35 years. Who could fault the eminent Cardinal for not acting in his capacity as a decent human being to bring the priest's reign of terror to a halt? Granted, the abuse went on for another 18 years after the Cardinal learned of the situation, but by law he wasn't required to do a thing. So he didn't.

No, he wasn't trying to protect the Church. He was merely following the law. To the letter.

As for Christ's teachings in regard to the importance of the spirit of a law, of the sins of omission....Cardinal Brady would much prefer that you ignore all that catechism business until you're sitting in the church, being asked to donate money to help pay for the lawsuits that resulted from the decades of child abuse that went on without anyone lifting a finger to stop it. Then it's pray, pay and obey.

Cardinal Brady won't step down unless the Pope himself tells him it's time to go.

Catholics aren't waiting for the word. They're fleeing in droves, voting with their feet since they have no say in Church business.