Yeah, Jim, Easter Sunday Mass should be for demonstrations, not worship. If the cause is worthy, then it is an abomination to interfere with a demonstration that interrupts worship. We had people who thought that at our cathedral when Robert Drinan, Jesuit priest and Congressman, was supposed to preach at Mass. They decided it was more important to demonstrate against abortion and heckle the priest as he spoke, because he belonged to a Congress that voted for abortion funding. Before and after Mass, they were standing outside church with buckets of baby dolls drenched in blood. But of course, their cause was important, so it was right for them to interrupt worship and wrong for anybody to try to control them. Bullshit.

The pope met with sexual abuse victims in the U.S. and Malta and apologized to them directly, and there have been other apologies from him and other bishops. As I said you cannot apologize enough - but there HAVE been a good number of apologies.

For the most part, damages were paid to the victims because they suffered damaged, not to shut them up. But yes, when they received payment, they stopped demanding it.

Jim, you're obsessed. I completely agree with you that crime is a bad thing, and that pedophilia in a church is a horrible thing. But life goes on, and it is impossible to carry on a rational discussion with somebody who is obsessed with crime. Get a grip.

-Joe Offer-