Steve, I too was raised Roman Catholic. My family was active in all phases of our local church life. My brothers were altar boys. Our priests were mostly ex- chaplains from WWII - all good decent men. I spent many hours working alone in the rectory as a child and was never harmed. My brothers tell me the same. The second tragedy resulting from the recent scandals is the distrust of the majority of religious.

John Hardly, Priests have been accused of raping girls both here and in Europe. I know personally of a priest in upstate NY who was moved from parish to parish and out of state because of his attacks on young girls. His picture was in the police files and dragged out whenever an attack occurred locally. The police had been warned.

Sorry all. My original post seems to have taken this thread off onto another subject entirely. Father Mike led a good life devoted to helping people, in particular firefighters. He died as he lived looking after the people in his care without regard for his own safety. If there is an afterlife, I find it hard to believe that he was not welcomed into Paradise with open arms. Were he not, I have this wonderful vision of hundreds of firemen blocking the gate while St. Peter makes an emergency call to Salvation Central for instructions.