Irish Catholic church Sex Scandal

Pope Benedict XVI has condemned the child sex abuse scandal that has engulfed the Irish Catholic church. 

Pope Benedict XVI gave the bishops of the Irish Catholic church a public dressing down at the Vatican today over the "heinous" child abuse scandal that has capsized the church's moral authority in Ireland.

However, doubts remain about the church's openness after the papal envoy in Dublin declined to give evidence to a parliamentary inquiry there.
After two days of discussions in the Vatican, during which each of the 24 Irish bishops was called in separately and given seven minutes to explain his conduct, an official statement was issued.
"The Holy Father observed that the sexual abuse of children and young people is not only a heinous crime, but also a grave sin which offends God and wounds the dignity of the human person created in his image," it said. "While realising that the painful situation will not be resolved quickly [the pope] challenged the bishops to address the problems of the past with determination and resolve and to face the crisis with honesty and courage."
Before the crisis meeting, the Vatican's secretary of state, Cardinal Tarcisio Bertone, had called on clergy who had abused children to admit to their "abominable acts" in a scandal that threatened to sink the church in Ireland. He told the bishops: "The most dangerous storm is that which touches the heart of believers, shaking their faith and threatening their capacity to entrust themselves to God."
That call was undermined in Dublin by the news that the papal nuncio in Ireland, Cardinal Giuseppe Leanza, has refused to appear before a parliamentary inquiry in the Dáil, saying in a letter last week that "it is not the practice of the Holy See that apostolic nuncios appear before parliamentary commissions". Leanza has ignored requests from earlier official Irish investigations to assist them.What has become of this world?