Catholic Church sent paedophile priests away 'for them to be fixed': Prosecutors turned blind eye to abuse
The Catholic Church in Scotland has admitted it made a 'huge mistake' by sending paedophile priests away to be 'fixed' rather than prosecuting them.
A senior cleric said yesterday that abuse was seen as a 'sin' and the church focused more on 'treating' child molesters than on helping their young victims.
He said there were occasions when prosecutors turned a blind eye and agreed not to bring charges on the condition abusers received therapy, with their crimes seen as a 'moral fault that could be fixed by prayer and retreat'.
Some abusers were sent to a hospital in Ireland, he revealed.
Monsignor Peter Smith, former chancellor of the Archdiocese of Glasgow, told a hearing of the Scottish Child Abuse Inquiry in Edinburgh that abuse had . . .
