Catholic Bishop calls paedophiles "courageous"

In the aftermath of the publication of the report into institutional child sexual abuse yesterday, the incoming leader of the Catholic Church in England and Wales has had the nerve to describe those members of the clergy who have admitted abusing children as “courageous”. This is absolutely disgusting.

“Courageous” is a word that should be used for people who bravely battle illnesses, for people who stand up for those who are oppressed....it is a word for those who stood before the Commission to Inquire into Child Abuse and had to relive the torture that they suffered at the hands of members of the Clergy. I can think of a multitude of words to describe the people who abused children and those who didn’t abuse children but were complicit in their silent condoning of these terrible acts. Depraved, loathsome, evil being a few. Courageous isn’t one of them. If the Church really expect people to believe that they have any remorse for what went on in their institutions under their watch, allowing Bishops to call paedophiles “courageous” for admitting to what they did, is not the way to go about it.