As to the RC Church and large compensation amounts to those abused by priests. This occured over years, while those in authority the organiztion knew it and tried to covered it up.

Good try at "twisting it around" to make the victims the villians - not those in authority. No, I submit they were not covering up to save money for the poor parishoners. They were indeed not "honest", caring, responsible nor, IMO, acting in a "Christian manner".

The legal system does not take such actions lightly and issued large judgements to send a clear message to this church and others - allow the abuse of innocent children under your authority, and you will pay dearly. Unfortunately, those in Authority (as these type folks often do) passed the costs down to others, with some of the guilt.

Punitive damages (do any of the noted misbehavours ring a bell in this situation?):

""The purposes of punitive damages are to punish the defendant for outrageous misconduct and to deter the defendant and others from similar misbehavior in the future.... The usual terms that characterize conduct justifying these damages include bad faith, fraud, malice, oppression, outrageous, violent, wanton, wicked, and reckless. These aggravating circumstances typically refer to situations in which the defendant acted intentionally, maliciously, or with utter disregard for the rights and interests of the plaintiff....

....Proponents of punitive damages believe that this type of award serves a number of important societal functions, including retribution, deterrence, compensation, and law enforcement.

Supporters of punitive damages contend that one function for such an award is to provide retribution to the victim of the defendant's reckless or wanton conduct. When a person is injured by the wanton misconduct of another, the plaintiff has the right to express her outrage by extracting a judicial fine from the wrongdoer. Seeking retribution allows the plaintiff to punish an intentional lawbreaker in much the same way as the criminal justice system punishes him.

Proponents believe that the most important function that punitive damages serve is that of deterrence. As in Criminal Law, the predominant purpose of punitive damages is to prevent similar misconduct in the future. Because the law does not catch and punish all persons who wantonly violate the rights of others, supporters argue that punitive damages help deter misconduct by publicizing, and at times sensationalizing, the punishment of those persons found guilty of egregious misconduct.""

punitive damages