Speaking ill of the dead is not something that FirstFoot considers lightly. However, the death of the Roman Catholic Cardinal Winning and the accompanying widespread press coverage, which has been highly praiseworthy of the man, is something that deserves further comment.

Winning - informed prejudice ?

Winning was a man who abhorred homosexuality and regularly and publicly condemned it as "perverted". This was no uninformed rant. Winning was one of nine Cardinal Presidents of the Pontifical Council for the Family, the department of the Roman Curia which coordinates the Holy See's activities in sexual politics.

Winning also abhorred a woman's right to choose and regularly and publicly condemned abortion.

Yet Winning never convincingly answered powerful accusations that he was less than ruthless in his weeding out of priests and other members of the church suspected of child abuse.

The paradox of a man who defends the right of the unborn child yet (allegedly) refuses to acknowledge the rights of young children being abused by members of his church is highly disturbing.

Perfect people are thin on the ground. But Winning occupied a place in society of great influence.

For many people in Scotland, he abused his position.