More evidence that the sexual abuse of children is not simply a "Catholic Church" problem

From Catholic World News, with my emphases and comments:

The leading candidate for Ireland’s presidency has seen his hopes of election severely compromised by the revelation that he once sought clemency for a man convicted of raping a teenage boy [imagine the outrage if a priest sought clemency for such a man].


David Norris, the senator who seemed likely to become the first openly homosexual president of Ireland, wrote to the Israeli government asking for a light sentence for his former lover, Ezra Yizhak, who had been found guilty of a sexual assault on a Palestinian boy.

Many Irish politicians who had backed the Norris candidacy said that they were reconsidering their support. Especially in light of the current outrage over the failure of Catholic bishops to discipline abusive priests, it will be difficult for public figures to justify support for a lawmaker who tried to shield his own intimate friend from abuse charges [apparently if there were presently outrage over the failure of Catholic bishops Norris could justify his support of the lawmaker].

Loyal supporters of the Norris candidacy said that the revelation of his clemency plea for Yizhak, made 14 years ago, was an Israeli bid to undermine his candidacy. Norris has been highly critical of Israeli treatment of Palestinians.

Several links to various news sources are available at the jump.