Catholics did take the child molestation scandal seriously, very seriously - and they still do. In most cases, the offenders HAVE been fired, Ed. They're gone, no longer functioning as priests. The "corporation" has paid damages in the billions of dollars - all donated by people who had nothing to do with the crimes committed. Many innocent employees lost their jobs because their salaries were used to pay settlements. The Pope has apologized time and time again to the victims, and bishops have been sacked or moved to sinecure positions. The job is mostly done in the U.S. It has a good start in Ireland, but there's a long way to go there. Other scandals will be uncovered in other nations, and new incidents will be discovered in the U.S., Ireland, and other locations - but at least the Catholic Church has acknowledged the problem and has developed ways to respond to it.

It's true that this should have been done long before (and in a huge number of cases, it WAS done long ago), but that's water under the bridge. One of the primary organizations that has fought the child molestation in the Catholic church in the U.S., is http://bishop-accountability.org (click). Follow the link to their database, and you will see the stories of all known priest sex offenders in in the U.S. The stories are not happy ones. Sometimes, it took years for action to be taken. But for the most part, the cases have been dealt with by now - and the Catholic Church paid a huge price. If you want more information, look at the Website of the Survivors Network of Those Abused by Priests, http://www.snapnetwork.org/. I have to say that I don't really like either of these organizations. They seem far more interested in vengeance, than they are in healing the damage done and preventing further damage. Still, they provide worthwhile information.


And Ed, I see you still haven't found logic capable of refuting my family analogy.

I also have to say that I'm getting really tired of the oft-repeated contention that since the Catholic Church did wrong in the child molestation scandal, it no longer has any right to speak out against anything it sees as injustice. Is it only the perfect who have a right to speak? Do you claim perfection?

So, what ELSE do you want, Ed?

And why are you speaking out about all this now? Where were you when I started speaking out about on this issue in the 1970s???

Sometimes, it really pisses me off when armchair experts come on here and make their solemn condemnations of all things Catholic, as if they knew anything about the subject. Since the late 1960's, I've called myself part of the "loyal opposition" in the Catholic Church. I've taken a lot of lumps for that from Catholics and non-Catholics alike, people who tell me I can't really be Catholic because I don't obey the Pope's every wish - I even lost a church job for being outspoken. So, now these Internet experts come in as the problem is finally nearing resolution, and they issue their all-encompassing condemnations. Even people who have worked for years to expose and resolve the problem, are included in their condemnations.



-Joe-