this is what i wrote on this blog
http://www.bbc.co.uk/blogs/thereporters/markdevenport/2010/03/church_and_state.html#p93735619
Is the cardinal not guilty of aiding and abetting a paedophile?
is forcing children not to report sexual assault to the police or anyone else not also breaking the law?
Now maybe there is some sort of statute of limitations here but surely this man and an awful lot of others should be prosecuted to the full extent of the law.
I am amazed that his conscience and allows him to keep working in his role as a spiritual leader.
As an english aetheist all I get from this is that the Church in Ireland is a) morally bankrupt and b) above the law.
this is the bbcs terms on defamation.....
What is Defamation?
Defamation is the legal term that covers both slander and libel; slander is defamation by word of mouth, and libel is defamation in written form. It is, therefore, the type of defamation we are concerned with in content posted onto the BBC. A statement about an individual or organisation is deemed to be defamatory if it harms their reputation by:
*
Exposing the individual or organisation to hatred, ridicule or contempt;
*
Causing the individual or organisation to be shunned or avoided;
*
Lowering the individual or organisation in the estimation of right-thinking members of society; or
*
Disparaging the individual in their office, profession or trade or the organisation's office, profession or trade.

