Why are the Catholics so touchy about the Child allegations against their clergy?

Because sadly, it is systemic. without a word of smear or lie, it is something the church has always had to deal with, you can go as far back as you want, but since celibacy was introduced into the church in the 11th Century by Pope Gregory the 7th (many people do not understand that a celibate clergy is a historically new thing and that for most of christian history, priests have always married) the Church has been plagued by members of the clergy on every level having unconventional ual relationships- Nuns would abuse orphans in orphanages, Priests and bishops have always been found with women or young men- because of this, there has always been a protocol for dealing with such issues, and it was always been an internal protocol that values secrecy over anything else. George Pell finds himself in between a rock and a hard place as he has to uphold age old-protocols under this new age of modern sensibilities and m media coverage- I don't envy the man one bit, but neither do i feel sorry for him- he's an immensely powerful man who has been nothing other than divisive in the relationship between australian catholics and the Vatican.