A government commission in Ireland released a report today detailing decades of child abuse in Dublin—most involving rape and sexual abuse—perpetrated by Catholic priests and covered by leaders of the Catholic Church. This stuff isn't ancient history: the report covers the period from 1975 to 2004. Let's meet the guys who were in charge, princes of the Church, men drawn from the same scummy pool of celibates and reactionaries who want to dictate the reproductive choices of American women, Catholic or not, and are working so hard to deny civil rights—not religious rites—to openly gay men and women, Catholic or not. It's a rogue's gallery:

Where individual Archbishops of Dublin were concerned it found that Archbishop John Charles McQuaid—who held office from 1940 to 1972—did not apply canon law where such allegations were concerned, though he was familiar with its requirements. His dealings with Fr Edmondus in 1960 “were aimed at the avoidance of scandal and showed no concern for the welfare of children.”

Archbishop Dermot Ryan—who held office from 1972 to 1984—“failed to properly investigate complaints” against any of the six priests dealt with by the Commission from his period in office. “He also ignored the advice given by a psychiatrist in the case of another priest (Fr Henry Moore) that he had placed in a parish setting.” It found that Fr Moore was subsequently convicted of a serious assault on a young teenager while working as a parish curate. Archbishop Ryan also seemed to have adopted “a deliberate policy” to ensure that knowledge of problems involving accused priests “was as restricted as possible.” This resulted “in a disastrous lack of co-ordination in responding to problems.”

Archbishop Kevin McNamara—who held office from 1984 to 1987—restored to ministry a priest, Fr Bill Carney, despite his having pleaded guilty to charges of child sex abuse in 1983 and despite suspicions about him where “numerous” other children were concerned. Fr Carney has since been laicized. Archbishop McNamara also appointed Fr Ivan Payne, also since laicized, as Vice-Officialis of the Marriage Tribunal in Dublin even though Archbishop Ryan had previously refused to do so. It was Archbishop McNamara who was first to take out insurance against possible claims for child abuse. He did so in March 1987 and all Catholic dioceses on the island of Ireland followed suit, excepting one.

Cardinal Desmond Connell, who held office as Archbishop from 1988 to April 2004, “was slow to recognise the seriousness of the situation” on assuming office. He was “over-reliant” on the advice of other people. While “clearly appalled by the abuse” it took him some time “to realize that it could not be dealt with by keeping it secret and protecting priests from normal civil processes.” He showed “little understanding of the overall plight of victims” some of whom found him “remote and aloof” and some “sympathetic and kind.” However, and “on the other hand he did take an active interest in their civil litigation against the Archdiocese and personally approved the defences which were filed by the Archdiocese.” Liability for injury and damage “was never admitted.” His strategies in civil cases, “while legally acceptable, often added to the hurt and grief of complainants.”

The report only covers the Catholic Archdiocese of Dublin, one big city, not all of Ireland. The Catholic church told the commission that its archbishops, bishops, and priests were all on "a learning curve" during the time period being investigated. Um... how steep is that learning curve exactly? How long does it take men of God—men who hear other peoples' confessions—to conclude that raping children is really, really, really wrong? How many decades exactly? The commission told the church that “it did not accept” as "true" its claim about learning curves, which is commission-speak for, "Shut the fuck up you lying sacks of child-raping shit."