Having endured hours of media coverage of that meeting in Rome I need to make a few things clear from the outset.
I wasn't happy with the way this meeting and its aftermath was handled, I thought the statement could have been stronger and more direct, I could understand the abuse survivors' impatience and frustration, but I also think there was an unseemly rush to judgement. Some of the more striking aspects of the Vatican statement were missed in the rush.
For example, it surprised me that the line in the Vatican statement that called for ''an improved human, spiritual, academic and pastoral preparation both of candidates for the priesthood and religious life and of those already ordained and professed'' was largely ignored, surprising as it seems to get to the heart of examining what might be wrong in the ''clerical club'' that many of last week's commentators (including some priests) referred to.
What we learned of the event was filtered through a largely hostile media, an institution that wants results on their terms NOW. And further, the news and current affairs programmes seemed compelled to filter everything through the high profile abuse victims - the most experienced, the most hurt, and yet, it needs to be said, the least objective people in this area.
I felt people outside the Church used the issue to bash the Church relentlessly while some on the inside used the occasion to attack Church teachings on a whole range of issues that have more to do with their personal agendas than the issue of child abuse.
Unbalanced
Newstalk's Lunchtime show on the Tuesday was particularly unbalanced and vicious. Much of it had presenter Eamonn Keane and Colm O'Gorman thrashing the Church. O'Gorman, referring to the pomp and ceremony (and I'm not a great fan of that myself) spoke of ''twaddle'', ''deference'' and ''nonsense''; he referred to ''corruption at the heart of that institution''; he described the Church as an institution with no interest in the truth! It felt like sneering contempt to me. Keane joined in, referring to the ''corrupt Vatican state''. Like many media commentators he took offence at the part of the Vatican statement that suggested part of the problem was a weakening of faith. He thought it was the other way around, that the abuse that caused a breakdown of faith - yes, but as Archbishop Martin pointed out in a Wednesday interview a failure of faith in the abusers must also have contributed to the wrongdoing.
Keane should get back to proper current affairs journalism instead of soap box rants, and O'Gorman's position would be much more credible on child protection if he wasn't heading up Amnesty International in Ireland - its proud history ruined by its current support for abortion - despite all the reports and all the angst, it seems like not all children are deserving of protection. (O'Gorman got another run at the insulting, courtesy of RTÉ this time, on the weekend's Sunday Forum on Radio 1).
On the Tuesday the difference between RTÉ's news headlines and those of Newstalk was telling - while some RTÉ headlines concentrated on the Vatican's description of abuse as a ''heinous crime'', Newstalk lead with the ''no apology'' line - so it seems that news has now become a matter of reporting what did not happen!
Loaded
That evening's Prime Time was loaded as well, with Miriam O'Callaghan referering to ''incredibly conservative men'' and a particularly unbalanced filmed report - Patsy McGarry of The Irish Times got plenty of opportunity to criticise the Vatican but there was no counterbalancing voice (e.g David Quinn has written in detail about the positive actions Pope Benedict has taken, so why wasn't he included?). It was only in the studio discussion that we got some balance.
Also annoying was Mary O'Rourke on that evening's Late Debate on RTÉ Radio 1. She went on about the difficult language in Church statements - claiming not to know what moral relativism meant! She is after all a politician. And she's intelligent, so was this rather coy and disingenuous?
Moderate
Fr Joe Mullins was admirably moderate and balanced on Tonight With Vincent Browne that night, while Fr Peter McVerry, while very critical of Vatican pomp, was passionate about what the teachings of Jesus had to offer our society.
Some commentators did acquit themselves fairly well - Joe Little on RTÉ's News reports, Gerard O'Connell of the Universe (Tuesday's Drivetime and that Prime Time), David Willey of the BBC on Tuesday, our own Garry O'Sullivan on Wednesday's Drivetime, Newstalk's Saturday Edition, and that Sunday Forum show (he gets around!). I wouldn't agree with them on everything, but at least they presented a more rounded version of what happened.
