These bishops falling on their swords were not, in my opinion, the top of this pyramid of denial and deceit.

Bishops take orders from, and report to, Cardinals, and it is hard to imagine, given the length of time over which this occurred, that there weren't any promotions of culprits to that rank. It is also hard to believe that the cover-up didn't go all the way to the Vatican.

The policy of transferring the miscreants must have raised queries from above as to reasons, surely, and those that sanctioned transfer to other parishes also sanctioned the sacrifice of new victims to the preservation of the church's reputation.

Don T.