United In Sin

As a kid growing up in a Catholic household and surrounded by the men and women in black, I was told that priests were benign representatives of God's will on earth, bishops were the closest thing to heaven that we were ever likely to encounter and that the Pope was a ghostly holy man who emerged from a puff of smoke. I also learnt that there were 3 perfect holiday destinations: Rome, Ireland and Lourdes. What I was never told was that where there were predatory priests with a predeliction for young children there was also a code of silence that made the Mafia's omerta seem like an invitation to bedlam. To paraphrase their own words: "Father don't bother to forgive them for they knew exactly what they were doing"