What did it for me was the phrase ‘in every diocese’.

http://www.guardian.co.uk/world/2010/sep/10/belgium-child-abuse-catholic-church

The report was about Belgium, but it could just as easily have been a story about Ireland, Boston and the US, or any  number of European and African countries. Nowhere in the world is exempt. Child abuse in the Catholic Church isn’t occasional, but systemic. In every country, in every diocese, it happened and happens still, except where they’ve been found out and have belatedly tried to rein in their abusers. I was born into catholicism, and schooled in its mysteries, and I love the art and mythology it has given the world. Warhol, Picasso, Graham Greene, Robert Mapplethorpe – so many of our great artists were inspired by the grandiose sado-masochistic art of the Church of Rome. But exquisite taste is no excuse for child abuse and I am, frankly, disappointed. Call me naive, but I took them at their word, and it is clear that the people who run this wealthy, powerful institution are, simply, apologists for paedophilia. Maybe all patriarchal religious sects are just machines for the abuse of children. And women, and homosexuals, of course. Islam certainly fits that description. Evangelical christian sects often turn out to be vehicles for egomaniacal abusers. And so, Dawkins’ anger is justified not just by the science, but the morals. Religion in the 21st century is anti-human, and should be fought against with as much conviction as 20th century progressives fought against nazism, Stalinism, communism, and authoritarian creeds in general. The only question is – and it’s for believers to answer – can any religious belief any longer be regarded as morally defensible?

On the eve of the Pope’s visit to Britain, and a documentary expected to be, well, objective about the Church’s scandalous cover up of child abusers in its ranks, the BBC is accused by Cardinal Keith O’Brien of bias against christianity. The BBC is “radically secular and socially liberal”, he is reported as believing, which one hopes is true. But it has never been anti-religion. Believers of all denominations are regularly given prime air time on shows such as Radio 4′s Thought for the Day and BBC2′s Newsnight. Religion in general, and even the most extreme and authoritarian of belief systems, are given the utmost respect by the BBC, in my experience as a viewer and listener. I find that tiresome, personally, given the venom that some religious types like to spit out against gays, women, and others – including opposing religious sects – but I also believe in lifestyle pluralism and the freedom of belief of others, as long as it is mutual. The BBC is a secular organisation, however, and should be utterly merciless in lending its authority to the continuing exposure of paedophile priests, and the obscenity of the church’s long term complicity in the worst crimes imaginable. The only thing worse than a paedophile is a paedophile who commits his abuses under cover of priestly authority, preying on the simple souls who place their earthly trust in him. If the current Pope will not face up to his responsibilities in this scandal, thank God (if indeed He exists) that we have organisations like the BBC who will report the truth. Accusations of bias will not obscure that truth any longer.