Sir, I was deeply saddened by your article “Paedophile priest sent for therapy by Pope was allowed to carry on working” (Mar 13) and particularly by Ruth Gledhill’s repetition in her analysis of the old canard that in 1980 “What is often forgotten is how little was known of paedophilia”.

On the contrary, within the children’s professions by that time we all knew that the majority of abusers would manipulate in whatever way they could do to deny wrongdoing and continue their behaviour. It was also made clear that all cases known to professionals must be reported to the authorities, to avoid exactly the collusion that tragically appears to continue to operate in the Roman Catholic Church.

Elinor Kapp
Child psychiatrist
Cardiff

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