It has become fashionable in recent times for the Catholic Church to be the target of all sorts of vicious and often ignorant comments, many of them of a sneering, vitriolic nature.

Quite often weaknesses or flaws of the whole Christian movement are sheeted home solely to the Catholic Church because it suits the motivations of many of its critics.

But Catholics must share the shame of the evil of child sexual abuse that has been perpetrated by some of its clergy over many years.

Some right-wing writers will attempt to use all sorts of statistics to minimise the wickedness that has occurred and bring into the equation other groups involved in the sexual abuse of children in order to “share the blame”.

But that must not be allowed to happen.

The church must atone for every act of evil that its clergy has ever committed, even if it brings the church to the brink of bankruptcy.

But there are many allegations which I find difficult to accept or understand the motivation behind.

I am sick to death of the constant snide criticism of nuns.

I grew up 50 metres from a convent and I never found any of them to be anything other than loving, compassionate, scholarly women who had given up much to live a life of chastity and one devoid of the most simple of “luxuries”.

The Catholic Church is often criticised for being patriarchal but there are many religions that are exactly the same and if anybody thinks, for example, that all Anglicans are totally happy with the ordination of women then they need to have a good look at themselves.

And then there is the question of the wealth of the Catholic Church.

I have no doubt the church is rich in assets but in liquidity?

I’m not too sure.

Some years ago I delivered a Lenten lecture at the Sacred Heart Church in North Albury and was given the gift of a book for my troubles, Confronting Power and Sex in the Catholic Church — Reclaiming The Spirit of Jesus, by retired bishop Geoffrey Robinson — hardly the gesture of a congregation trying to avoid the issue of child sexual abuse.

It is a wonderful book and gives a clear insight as to where the church has gone wrong in the past and where it must go from here.

The author does not shy away from attacking those structures within the church which he sees as being responsible for the terrible evil that has been committed.

The parish priest at Sacred Heart is none other than Father Kevin Flanagan, someone who is much loved throughout the region for his non-orthodox and ecumenical approach to pastoral care.

On Saturday night I attended a packed function at the Commercial Club in Albury to celebrate the 50th anniversary of his ordination, and the affection and admiration in the room for the man was a palpable, moving and inspiring thing.

Many people in the room were not of the Catholic faith but had turned up to show their respect for the man.

Despite what the sceptics say, the Catholic Church will survive, so long as it cleanses itself of the sins of the past, follows recommendations like those made by Bishop Robinson — such as doing away with obligatory celibacy, dismantling the messiah complex often associated with priests and stop creating priests out of young men in an artificial environment that they do not have the maturity to handle.

It will survive if it also determines to create a whole new future for itself and its members from the ashes of the past.

If it can do that maybe there will be more Kevin Flanagans to serve it — and the wider community — for many generations to come.