IT IS ONE OF the melancholy aspects of human nature that we are most inclined to castigate the sins to which we are at any time least prone. So it is with Pope Francis’ attack on clericalism, quite correctly identifying it as one of the fundamental causes of child sexual abuse within the Church.

It is one of the aspects of his responses to the scandal with which his critics here in Ireland have been entirely in agreement. This visit has turned from its ostensible purpose as a celebration of family life into an opportunity for public penance on the part of the Pope for the sins of omission and commission committed by the clergy in sexually exploiting the vulnerable and failing to prevent and punish it.