Pope Benedict and 24 Irish bishops are meeting this week in Rome to discuss the priestly paedophilia scandal in Ireland, one of the world’s most Catholic countries.

The Murphy Commission Report revealed in November 2009 that the Church in Ireland had “obsessively” hidden child abuse by priests in the Dublin archdiocese from 1975 to 2004 — and that all Dublin bishops had been aware of some complaints, but were more preoccupied with protecting the Church’s reputation than safeguarding children.

Four bishops have offered their resignations. The pope has already accepted one.

The Vatican says the pope will be writing to the Irish people about the crisis — the first time a pope will have devoted a document solely to the clergy’s abuse of children.

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The head of the Pope’s Congregation for Priests, Cardinal Hummes, announced last Thursday that the Church condemns sex abuse by clergy and “will drive out offenders”.

The emphasis, he says, will be on “a rigorous selection process” for priesthood candidates and on “a spiritual renewal of the clergy”.

Let us hope so.

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The Church has certainly let itself down badly — a priest sexually molesting a child is the worst possible example of betraying a trust.

And it has let God down badly – giving his enemies excuses to claim that Catholic religion somehow condones sexual sin — the exact reverse of the truth.

The belief that women and children must be protected from sexual exploitation is historically a belief invented by, and proclaimed and defended by, the Christian religion.

Look at non-Christian cultures, past and present — see how they treat their women and children.

Look, for example, at Labor state governments in Australia — which legalise same-sex acts involving boys as young as 16 years.

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The whole clergy-abuse issue is complicated by some who expose the wrongdoings of priests seeming to have agendas of their own.

Some of the media and some victim groups give the impression that they will never be happy with anything the Catholic Church does — never until the Church goes out of existence will they let up on criticising and passing judgement on it.