One of the things that has always annoyed me in the past has been the way that formal religion has sold itself as the interpreters and upholders of all things virtuous, ethical or whatever you wish to call it.

With other words go to church on a Sunday morning, a Shul on a Friday evening or a Mosque at any one of the five times per day and at some time during your visit you will be told how to behave and what of your behaviour is to be considered a sin.

In fact the Christian churches even take it a step further. They tell you that you are born a sinner and that you need somebody in the form of Jesus Christ to have died for those sins.

The Jews and Muslims go as far as dictating what foods to eat and when you may eat and drink during holy days. With other words there are a bunch of people, mostly men, who have taken it upon themselves to determine how their followers should behave.

It is therefore with some disdain that one reads about the Catholic church in Ireland now admitting to and apologising for hiding the sins of their representatives for over a quarter of a century. In this instance it’s about the cover up of pedophile priests.

This is the same church that tells its congregation that divorce is a sin and that birth control is evil. Using a condom, even in an area where the spread of HIV/AIDS is a possibility, is also a sin.

Of course the only reason why the church has now decided to apologise is because a damning report that exposes the extent of the abuse of children and the cover up has just been published.

It might be an idea in retrospect that the Catholic church and other institutions of religion guilty of similar offenses should get their  houses in order and to do this before telling their followers how they should interpret the words of their God and the ‘laws’ they need to adhere to.