What astonishes me is how this happened. 1800 years or so of - mostly - civil behaviour by priests (from which I except Thomas à Becket, whose row with the king was over whether the state or the church should try an abusive priest who killed his victim's father when he objected to his "seduction of his daughter). Anyway, apart from Tom, mostly decent priests and nuns dedicated to service and goodness.

Then… what? Power, I suppose: power over whole societies which didn't dare resist them; the power to imprison women and sell children, and have no one say them nay, under the pretence of "saving" them.