Claiming Satan is to blame for child sex abuse in Church is an outrageous act of desperation

IN RECENT days, the Pope has been suggesting that Catholics pray for the whole month of October to tackle Satan, who his holiness thinks is responsible for the scourge of child abuse in the Roman Catholic Church.

Conor Keane reported that Bishop Alphonsus Cullinan of Waterford and Lismore is planning an exorcism response to reiki and everyday evil (‘Bishop to set up exorcism ministry as he warns of the evils of reiki’, Irish Independent, October 10).

I’m perplexed, What next? Ghostbuster units to be set up across the country? Let me say this to Bishop Cullinan and Pope Francis – the evidence is crystal clear that the only people responsible for the cancer of child abuse in the Church are the clerical/religious perpetrators of such heinous abuse, and the members of the Church hierarchy who were and are complicit in the facilitation of such atrocious abuse and its concealment.

The suggestion that Satan is responsible and that exorcisms need to occur is an outrageous act of desperation by Church leaders running scared and out of ideas in the 21st century, when people are better educated and can think for themselves without fear of rancour from the Church.

The Devil isn’t responsible for clerical child abuse. Wicked, evil clerics are. Satan didn’t do any of this and neither did he request that it happen. Blaming the Devil isn’t credible. I can’t see that defence of ‘Satan was responsible for all this’ working out too well in the clerical abuse legal cases before the courts in countless jurisdictions.

I wouldn’t be surprised if I get excommunicated for expressing such thoughts so close to the blasphemy referendum.

Next they’ll be bringing back the Inquisition and witch hunting – and all this so close to Halloween.