Exactly what I mean, Smokey. Nobody would dare dispute the fact that there were priests who raped and molested children. That happened. It's a terrible, unavoidable truth.

But after that, it gets murky. If you want to squeeze money out of people who didn't commit the crime and had nothing to do with the crime, then you have to put "spin" on what happened. You use phrases like knowingly harbored criminals who rape children, even though you really don't have evidence to back that up. You use language that makes it sound like the offense was universal, even though the actual evidence points to a few people who were guilty and a lot of people who simply bungled the matter.

But if you keep using that phrase, "raped and molested children," it get burned into people's minds and they forget all about a sense of proportion and reality. So, a smidgen of reality becomes a universal truth. And the individuals who committed the crimes become representative of the entire group.

Now, in all this, I do not mean to downplay the harm that was done to the children who were abused and molested. This was a terrible thing, and it happened to far too many children. If it happened to just one child, it still would have been horrible and inexcusable. I am outraged by the molestation and abuse of children that took place in the Catholic Church, and by the bishops who tried to evade their share of responsibility and cover this up.

But in all the rhetoric that has been thrown about in this situation, very little has been said in sympathy with the victims. Very little has been done to explore ways to heal the harm done to the victims. The rhetoric is directed at "the Church," and is meant to destroy "the Church." Our primary response to this crisis should be to heal the harm that was done and to prevent it from happening again. But no, that's not what's happening. It's an opportunity for those who want to attack the entire Catholic Church, for real and imagined offenses. The victims get forgotten in all this.

-Joe-