"I do not seek to defend the people who committed these crimes or to denigrate the victims."
You are still missing or avoiding the point Joe
That is not what is being discussed here.
The perpetrators should have been punished by law - the vast majority of them weren't - those who were found out (or were investigated when they were accused) got off with a slapped wrist and let go on their merry way
If they had been Muslims or schoolteachers or medical staff, they would have been facing long jail sentences.
But that is beside the point
The Church on every level, as an institution, participated in in these crimes at the time and the church hierarchy continue to hide evidence essential to bringing closure the victims and their families
Again, if that were to happen outside the church, it would be punishable by law.
The lack of contrition on the part of the Church has led to its being undermined in the eyes of ordinary worshipers - that is why your churches are empty and it is why your religion is dying.
Personally, I don't care that it is dying - but I would rather that believers thought about it and said "this doesn't make sense"
As for the power of the church being undermined; that is long overdue - these crimes could never have gone on for so long if the Church had not possessed as much power as it did.
Your religion makes a creat thing about confession and forgiveness - yet it is a little short of it when it comes to its own sins
Jim Carroll