The Church’s ability to speak out on marriage and the family, sexual morality and on its role in education has been  damaged by the impact of the scandals, a leading Irish bishop has acknowledged.

In a statement following last week’s meeting of the Irish bishops with Pope Benedict, the Archbishop of Tuam, Dr Michael Neary, said that while child abuse was not a problem peculiar to the Church, “nevertheless its impact is intensified in the Church”.

This was damaging to “its credibility in a number of areas, for example, its teaching on marriage and the family, on sexual morality, and on the Church’s role in education and Catholic schools,” the statement added.

In Ireland, in contrast to other countries, the Catholic Church has been very inactive in debates about marriage and the family.

However, it has been more active in the education debate whereas leading Church figures such as Cardinal Sean Brady, Archbishop Diarmuid Martin, and the head of the Bishops’ education commission, Bishop Leo O’Reilly have robustly defended the continued existence of denominational schools and their right to receive public funding.