Abuse of children a worldwide issue

Madam, – Abuse of children is a worldwide problem among people of many religious and other beliefs and status.

Madam, – Abuse of children is a worldwide problem among people of many religious and other beliefs and status.

Concentrating attention on what happened in one or a few institutions is of value but the value is limited. The starting point should be: where in the world does abuse occur, on whom, by whom and why? The Catholic Church is one of the few institutions that could create such an worldwide inquiry – it has the intellectual power, it has universities and other resources, and it should have the spiritual urge to do it.

Such an inquiry over the next five years would be the best gift the church could make to those who suffer abuse.

So why not do it? – Yours, etc,

Fr DESMOND WILSON,

Springhill Close, Belfast.