Madam, – Contrary to the opinion of the majority of your correspondents, in response to the Bishop of Ferns’s appeal to the public to contribute towards the costs of the abuse claims in Ferns, I am of the opinion that a certain entity of Catholics should indeed contribute.
I refer to the thousands of Catholics, not only in Ferns, but throughout the country, who stood steadfastly behind the church, not only in the recent period of sex abuse revelations but also in the years when the Catholic Church was almost the de-facto government of this country. Without this entity, the church could not have hidden the scandals but also the cover-ups which followed.
Those people should now do “penance” for such backing (even hero-worshipping), and put their hands in their pockets to pay for their silent backing for what went on. – Yours, etc,