This cartoon is brilliant, but not quite true. It is true that for years, John-Paul II refused to acknowledge that Catholic Priests could be pedophiles. He rejected the persecution of known pedophiles such as Marciel Macial Degollado, the founder of the Legion of Christ and insisted, against serious objections, that Cardinal Hans Groër be appointed Archbishop of Vienna when it was already very obvious that he was a serial child abuser. John Paul II’s successor Benedict XVI, who before becoming pope headed up the Congregation for the Defence of the Faith – the former Inquisition – demanded that abuse cases be subject to ‘pontifical secrecy’ and refused to allow these priests to face justice. It’s commonly understood that the it was the enormity of the child abuse scandal that forced his resignation. It’s been conservatively estimated that the Church has had to pay out $6 billion (yes billion, not million) in compensation payments to child abuse victims in the US alone. Think of that next time you put your $10 in the collection tin!

But at least Pope Francis has admitted that there is a problem. Already in 2014 he acknowledged that some 2%, or one out of every fifty priests – may be pedophiles. That amounts to some 8,000 priests – a pretty worrying statistic and enough of a reason now to ensure that any young relative go nowhere near a Catholic Church! The Church has always acted in great secrecy. Let’s hope that Francis blows the whole rotten structure up so that it can be rebuilt on firmer foundations.