A Catholic bishop has asked whether an unhealthy or distorted understanding of sexuality might have contributed to the church's clerical child sex abuse problems.
Addressing the annual citizenship service at Dublin's Christ Church Cathedral yesterday, the Bishop of Killaloe, Dr Willie Walsh, referred to clerical abuse and said: "We in the Roman Catholic Church must surely ask why such evil continued to go unchecked for so long."
It must also be asked why men who must have entered priesthood with high ideals could perpetrate such evil acts, he said.
"Was it human weakness or was it an unhealthy or distorted understanding of the meaning and purpose of the gift of sexuality? Could our rule of celibacy have had a negative influence? Was the virtual absence of women in our decision-making processes a significant factor?" he asked.
They were "uncomfortable, somewhat frightening questions for us to face but not to ask them at this point is even more frightening", he remarked.
He said no group, church or otherwise is above the law of this State and he warned the media against trying to occupy a role held by the Catholic Church in Irish society.
He said that where there might be any conflict between canon law and that of the State, he would "feel obliged to obey the law of the State".
"All my bishop colleagues would say the same despite recent suggestions to the contrary," he added.
There was "no justification for any group, be they motivated by political, religious or whatever other interests, to place themselves above the law," he said.
He paid tribute to the media for its contribution to a more open and honest society.
"In so many cases over the past 20 years courageous journalists have pursued many of us in positions of leadership in search of truth. We have sometimes been evasive and even misleading."
But he continued: "Dare I say to some: 'You have charged us as church, and not without reason, as being an arrogant and oppressive force in Irish society for many years. It would be a great tragedy if you in the media were now to occupy that place which you have helped us vacate'."
For the media there was the attraction of the sensational, the salacious and the prurient as was seen in recent weeks, he said.
"Truth must never be sacrificed to sensationalism. And if, on occasion, some of the judgments we make prove to be wrong, it is not always true that wrong judgments are the results or product of corrupt motives," he said.
The annual citizenship service has been taking place at Christ Church Cathedral since 1940, and at this time of year, as a way of fostering Church of Ireland relations with Dublin. Among the large attendance was the city's Lord Mayor Catherine Byrne.