This is proving a long, cold winter for the Catholic Church in relation to the sexual abuse of children by clergy. Hard on the heels of the devastating Murphy report into sexual abuse in the Archdiocese of Dublin, similar cases are now coming to light elsewhere in Europe, especially in Germany. The possibility of a similar scandal in Spain is now being openly talked about there too, and child abuse allegations are being investigated in Holland and Austria. This follows a series of grave scandals in the United States, and of course the Catholic Church in Britain has not been spared. These developments on the continent of Europe mean that any simplistic assumption that the problem is confined to Ireland and the Catholic Irish diaspora, or even to Catholics in the English-speaking world, is no longer sustainable.

As the British were among the first to discover, there is one crucial step that has to be taken, around which all other measures against clerical child abuse must hinge. As recommended by the report of the commission under Lord Nolan, every allegation of sexual abuse made against a priest must be passed for investigation to the police and secular social welfare authorities, and the Church must co-operate fully with any subsequent inquiries. What contributed to the impression of a Church protecting its own, in case after case, was a refusal to adopt this fundamental principle. Indeed, when it was initially proposed as part of new measures for the Catholic Church in Ireland to combat child abuse, there was a complaint from the Vatican.

More recently a row flared up between the German bishops and the German Government over the same issue, though the intervention of Chancellor Angela Merkel, calling for a conference of all parties, may resolve it. Fr Federico Lombardi, the Vatican press spokesman, praised the German bishops’ desire for “transparency” and also praised Mrs Merkel’s initiative. “The Church naturally is ready to participate,” ...

Although the main political parties are close in many areas of policy, the forthcoming general election is clearly regarded by the Catholic bishops of England and Wales as a watershed, and therefore as a suitable moment for some national stocktaking. Their pre-election statement “Choosing the Common Good”, published this week, paints a discouraging picture of the current state of society. It goes on to ...

It would be foolish to pretend there is no problem: Britain has the highest rate of sexually transmitted disease, abortion for under-21s and teenage pregnancy in Europe. Surveys show that three-quarters of teenagers think the sex education they receive at school is poor. In those circumstances, it is understandable that a government would want to lay down the law, which is what Secretary of State Ed Balls is trying ...

It was an unprecedented event in Catholic history. Pope Benedict XVI summoned the entire hierarchy of the Church in Ireland to Rome this week and publicly rebuked them. The sexual abuse of children by members of the clergy was “a heinous crime and grave sin”, he told them. In a statement afterwards, the Vatican made clear it was the Pope’s view that there was no doubt “that errors of judgement ...

Collisions between immovable objects and unstoppable forces are never pretty, as the Church of England seems anxious to demonstrate. Its General Synod heard a desperate plea this week from Dr Rowan Williams, the Archbishop of Canterbury, to pull back from the confrontation over the ordination of women bishops that could see the Church fragmenting into at least three components. These three – Anglo-Catholic, Evangelical ...