I gotta say, Jim, that you're really good at linking to old newspaper articles. The two Vatican investigations of U.S. nuns were ended in April 2015, but began winding down even before Benedict resigned. They were a political move by right-wingers, and the right-wingers lost.

As I've often said, it's a mistake to view the Catholic Church as monolithic. I don't like what the right-wingers do in the Catholic Church, any more than Messrs. Shaw, Carroll, and Musket do. I can't figure out why Messrs Shaw, et al, hold me responsible for the actions of Catholic right-wingers that I've opposed all my days.

Mr. Musket, my opposition to the right-wingers isn't "boutique" Catholicism, and it's not the failure to believe Catholic doctrine that Mr. Shaw claims it to be. I hold true to what I believe the Catholic Church ought to be - and so do a lot of other Catholics, including Pope Francis. We're very happy to have a Pope who's on our side, for a change.

There was an interesting article in USA Today on Tuesday, talking about how the National Catholic Reporter newspaper published articles on sexual abuse by priests in 1985, 17 years before the Boston Globe covered the story. NCR, a lay-run Catholic publication not owned or controlled by the Catholic Church, has continued to publish articles on the sex scandal to the present time. I've supported NCR since it began publishing in 1964. The publishers of NCR also hold true to what they believe the Catholic Church ought to be.

-Joe-