More of the same rhetoric that has allowed this to continue unhindered. If the Church was organized in any serious way, or had a modicum of sense, the Vatican would have rescinded the positions of all the bishops and replaced them with a new clergy as soon as they learned of these atrocities. Instead, they covered them up and are responsible for the abuse of countless more children. Read the report, it fucking says it all, the Church cared more about its public image than the literal rape of over a thousand children. The institution is thoroughly corrupt. If you're an Irishman like myself, then you should be fully aware of the generations of innocents tortured by the Church. They literally committed a form of genocide against single mothers and their children in Ireland.

Well, if you were a Bishop, and you knew you had corrupt superiors or colleagues, what would you do? This is the crux of the matter, and it's what the article is beginning to address, a tangible next step, something more concrete and intelligent that *does* solve the problem of abusive clergy

I'd leave the institution. How is one to believe in an apostolic church that routinely protects and perpetuates one of the most abhorrent crimes in the world? The resolution put forward here is a petition to the Pope to form a team made of "faithful Catholics" skilled in forensic investigation who have access to all of the relevant documentation and financial records. What a nice starting point after the damage has been done - however, both the bishops and the highest echelons of the Vatican have proven they cannot be trusted with disciplinary, investigative, and judicial matters. This is a matter of Church authority and deference which must be smashed. The past decade has made it increasingly obvious that society should be secular - with no church control of schools, hospitals, care-homes, etc. The horrors of these powerful, abusive institutions must be acknowledged and reparations made where possible. Only a fraction of what the church promised to victims has been paid; eight of the Magdelene women from my country have died waiting for redress since reports (which the Church refused to fund) brought their abuse to light. Now over 300 priests from a single state have been caught abusing over a thousand children, and THAT WAS ONLY 1 STATE. What does it take? How many more horror stories? How many more lies? How much longer before we move and a build a new society?

Yes, you'd leave. You'll also hopefully forgive some people for holding on to their deepest beliefs about life itself, beliefs that they have laid loved ones to rest under, that they have gotten married under, or chosen to dedicate their lives to. One participates in this Church because the vast majority of its clergy and practitioners are good people, and always have been, all of the abuses and corruption you can name have *never* been the truth for the majority of Catholics. People forget that. And I think conflating the issue with secularization and atheism is unhelpful/misleading, it's a human problem. Getting rid of religious institutions and belief systems won't solve this, there are plenty of sectors that can and are used for the same purpose, whether it be schools, hospitals, government, the aid sector. Do you suppose we abolish these altogether? No, you change them, and that is what is being proposed here, and might I add that abuse scandals in these places have also seen an unsatisfying response, with no clear sign of any real change yet.

No, I wouldn't forgive people for believing in a hierarchy of individuals who perpetrate this behavior in every country they visit (and let's not forget, there are many more abuses of power to be unearthed). After all, it's because of this mentality that such practices continued in this manner for centuries; talk to anyone in the older generation, they'll tell you about the culture of fear and 'no questions asked'. Such people haven't been afforded the chance of a critical education and, like everyone else, rely on these beliefs to alleviate the sufferings of this world in anticipation of the next, rather than focusing on the material problems of their current reality. Their mentality is the same one that justified the endless abuse of power in my country and yours. Once we stopped nuns/priests beating children and attained a standard measure of ubiquitous education - did we start to see the Church for what it truly was: a theocratic monstrosity. Let's put it in perspective. The Catholic church destroys countless generations of Irish, condemns and undermines the country's turn to liberalism, tries to indemnify itself and prevent damning reports, STILL refuses to pay abuse survivors, then turns around and tells us that it's only proper that we afford them forgiveness. They crushed women and children under their foot, and while you have yet to see how they have abused power in your own country (and continue to do so in the second/third world), they can easily rely on a few devotees to swaddle the comments section telling us it's just a matter of forgiveness. Prayers and forgiveness mean little to a wasteland of destroyed hearts, minds, and lives. This level of theology is a refuge of delusion that maintains a concentration of power for elitists circles. The evangelizing mission in Ireland culminated in a deeply unequal state and the total control of its people's minds and bodies. Exactly what any theocracy craves for, and the upper echelons will try to do the same in any country they enter. Learn from Ireland's example, and make sure the same doesn't happen to you. Getting rid of the institutions WILL solve this. The Catholic church still controls over 90% of our schools. Pushing poor or non-existent sexual education while making it difficult for non-catholics to find a proper education. The Catholic church still controls a certain measure of our hospitals, actively working against any liberal reform that runs counter to their ethics. The Catholic church still controls some survivors of abuse in homes around the country, extracting labor from them when they can. The Catholic church still controls a number of think-tanks that use international influence and bots to influence our elections. We've had enough, SEPARATE CHURCH AND STATE!

Tomas Rodriguez maybe he is working on the video right now. give him a few days to collect his thoughts. He should make a video soon

Tomas Rodriguez He's already done videos on scandal in the church. This site has hundreds of videos.

Tomas Rodriguez he has talked about the past ones, why do you think he won't talk about present or future ones? I am honestly curious.

It JUST broke, give the man a second.

BearYourSuffering he already wrote an article on the recent sex scandals at the word on fire website

JANHOI MCCALLUM can u find the link to that I also want to read his response

Is this the article you are referencing? www.wordonfire.org/resources/article/the-mccarrick-mess/5873/. I agree with his sentiments on the whole. However, I do have a couple of thoughts I believe are worth sharing: 1) Bishop Barron's KZfaq community is not the same as his Word on Fire community. I believe it would be wise for him to share the spoken word as well as the written word to reach more people who may otherwise not read his message. 2) I believe for many, believers and non-believers alike, this is the make-or-break moment for the Catholic Church in America. If Bishop Barron, who has a large influence on the cultural conversation regarding Catholicism in the country, does not come out publicly to lead, or at least be one of the leaders of, the call for the Vatican to fully investigate the depths of this depravity in the entire US Catholic Church, then whatever credibility the church has left to be the moral light in our culture will be gone. Lost sheep whose numbers grow with each passing day will not join this flock if the shepherds are believed to be predators in priestly garb. If Bishop Barron does not make this issue priority number one in his articles and his videos going forward, the message to the observant public will be clear. In my relatively worthless opinion which I will share anyway, sins of omission, not acting when the situation calls us to do so, can be worse than sins of commission by many orders of magnitude. 3) Despite the call to keep calm heads and avoid scapegoating, a purge needs to happen, and deacons, priests, bishops, etc. who are found to have engaged in these diabolical activities or tacitly approved of them by remaining quiet in the face of great evil need to be excommunicated at a minimum and hopefully face the full legal consequences as spelled out in the law. I understand that there is a difference between between justice in this life and the eternal justice which we all must face, but that does not mean we neglect to pursue justice in the here and now when crimes so unspeakable that I would likely receive a strike for violating community standards if I posted the full details here have been revealed to all with eyes to read and ears to hear.

As an addition, I am someone who was raised Catholic, fell away from the Church for a variety of reasons, but has been trying to bring myself back. News like this does not help the soul crying out for guidance and meaning. I want the Church to do well, I want to see it grow and prosper, and I want it to fulfill its mission of spreading the Gospel to all corners of the world. However, people are more easily convinced of an institution's moral convictions by its actions, not words, and right now, the Church must act decisively to combat this great evil.

Craig martyrdom and betrayal are very different things.

My book club is exploring the parallels between Lovecraft and O'Connor, especially the way they build to a climax of madness/grace.

She is her own class, her own category. It would be better to say something like, "The Coen brothers are a Jewish Flannery O'Connor". For example

@@fragwagon I'd like to see the Coens do a film adaption of The Violent Bear it Away.