I do think that the actions of the Catholic Church in regards to the child abuse scandals was absolutely reprehensible. That in no way implies that CATHOLICS are to blame, but rather the Leadership inside the Church.
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As someone who was raised Catholic, I respectfully differ in my opinion. At the Catholic church, school and H.S. I attended, it was common knowledge which priests and brothers were drunks, panderers, gays or molesters. The parishes and the parents who were paying big buck$ for their kids schooling, always let it slide.
In fact, the Chicago Archdiocise has had a special retreat / treatment centerfor troublesome priests for decades. In any complaints were actually lodged, the priest would quietly go "on retreat", never to return to his original parish. But after a few months , they'd be assigned to another parish, and the cycle would continue.
The problems with the Church are the direct results of generations of parishiners treating priests as near-godlike beings, above all reproach, and letting them get away with behavior/crimes that would land anybody else in jail.
CKMorley