Spiritual Compensation

Despite the Catholic church's reputation for historical as well as moral backwardness, it does steal a march every so often along with all those childhoods. In the wake of the abuse scandal, the diocese of Dublin has learned the lesson to which our own religious personnel in the banking sector are still regrettably immune: namely that when moral incentives are not enough, a financial penalty may help to speed reform. Despite the sadism and sexual abuse; despite the attempts to palm off blame on the Press, the Jews or the homosexuals; despite the church's continuing prioritisation of the welfare of the human immunodeficiency virus over that of human beings, there are still a few people who are sufficiently lacking in basic moral values as to remain members of the church. Proceeding from the laudable premise that no-one is entirely irredeemable, the diocese of Dublin intends to impose a levy on Catholic families living in Dublin so that they can help to pay the costs which the church has brought on itself by permitting the abuse of children. (The diocese also proposes to cut the wages of those who work for it, which should be a painless enough exercise since they are not employees.) It is to be hoped that, taken together with the recession, the Irish government's attack on its own public sector and the Vatican's famous distaste for the material wealth of others, the levy will induce at least a few of the unfortunate parishioners to see the moral and ethical advantages of apostasy.