Not a peep from the Navan Road

Will the current furore in the Irish church inspire theologians to sit down and ask serious questions as to why this has happened? It is doubtful.

What is likely to happen is a closing of ranks. It is highly unlikely that there will be any serious discussion in the area.

It has been reported that some bishops have said that it would be too costly to do an audit in every diocese. Of course an audit must be done everywhere. If anything, it is probable that this behaviour was more prevalent in rural Ireland than in urban areas.

The whole sorry story is appalling and please, not a word from anyone in the hierarchical church to say they did not understand the seriousness of what was going on. They did and they do.

It is the forced drip feed that is terrible and so demeaning.

There is also a serious theological issue at stake. It seeps right through every corner of the hierarchical church that God's preferred 'people' is 'the one true church' and that his priests are there to guide it. Is there not some sort of problem here?

There is also a permanent state of denial at work. Some years ago when the Micheál Ledwith story broke, a lecturer from Maynooth told me in no uncertain terms a year or so before the story broke, that nothing untoward was going on in Maynooth. Indeed, he was 'cross' with me for even suggesting that something may not be right and proper. He dismissed me in a most imperious manner - still does today.

It is all so horrible and indeed sad. But all one has to do is to examine carefully how bishops are appointed and the sort of people who are the career people within the church.

All seems silent in Rome and on the Navan Road.