Often I am not proud of my profession, but there are times – usually when looking beneath the stones that shore up the established order – when journalists change the world for the better. The uncovering of the extent of sexual abuse of children, particularly by Catholic priests, is unquestionably one such example.

I have little doubt that had it not been for the unquenchable courage of many victims and the determination and dogged digging of the fourth estate that the Catholic Church would still be covering up the extent of abuse and moving paedophile priests from parish to parish.

Before the sustained exposure in the Western media, police were often complicit in cover-ups or simply refused to believe children, so that few cases came to court, while politicians were heavily influenced by the Church.