Religious persecution may shield itself under the guise of a mistaken and over-zealous piety. – Edmund Burke, 15 February 1788
All that is necessary for evil to triumph is for good men to do nothing. – Soviet film adaptation of War and Peace, Sergei Bondarchuk

I rounded up comments by Huffington Post readers that succulency speak the truth about the current sexual abuse scandal rocking the Vatican. I believe that these comments need to be shared by others that don’t have the chance to read or have knowledge of Huffington’s comments section. I also don’t believe in having to recreate the wheel – of regurgitate opinions already stated. Read on.

On 27 March 2010, Huffington Post reader 4httr responded to a Bill Maher video interview [Catholic Church Wants ‘Wiggle Room’ for Rape and Torture of Children]: “The long march back to the middle ages was the work of the much revered John Paul II . He suppressed activists priests who called for social justice and also appointed hardline conservatives who placed the institution ahead of people. The current pope was hand picked to lead the office that served as the doctrinal watchdog for the church. His elevation to pope by the conservatives guaranteed that the church would become more insulated and secretive. The only hope is for him to resign and a visionary leader chosen to transform the church by shedding the restrictions that allowed it to become a playground for pedophiles. The two thousand year old institution has lost it’s way and is now losing it’s membership as disillusioned Catholics all over the western world come to understand that the arch conservative philosophy of the current church has led it to the brink of self destruction.”

kittyma responded: “This church has lost its way completely and it began with the “death” of the first Jean Paul.”
offred wrote: “If a pope wishes to resign today, there are official steps that can be taken. According to the 1963 Code of Canon Law (Canon 332.2), “If it should so happen that the Roman Pontiff resigns his office, it is required for validity that he makes the resignation freely and that it be duly manifested, but not that it be accepted by anyone.”

mensch99: Archbishop Rembert G. Weakland of Milwaukee was one of the Catholic Church’s most venerable voices for change until 2002 when he resigned amid revelations that he had used church money to pay a $450,000 settlement to a man with whom he had had a relationship years earlier.”

mensh99 went on to write: “Years ago I lived near St John’s School for the Deaf and drove past it often.
I shuddered to think of the pervert smorgasbord there must be behind those walls. Every thinking person knew, then as now, what goes on.’Apparently, the Milwaukee police also knew and gave the Priests a pass. Replacing the Pope will do nothing. This is an endemic and systemic problem.
As a start, celibacy must end now. Perhaps an infusion of new blood, people who have not repressed their sexuality, will change the mindset of the church. The Church holds the position tacit or explicit; that sex is sinful and even marriage makes a man unclean, the assumption being that women are intrinsically unclean. This Church needs a total reformation.”
didereaux wrote: The basis for the Pope’s dilemma is this: Absolution! God(supposedly) has granted the church(Pope) the power to absolve sin through confession, these powers are delegated down through the hierarchy. Now, a priest molests a child, he goes to confessional, he does penitence, he is absolved of the sin. If he is no longer a sinner then the Church must see him as a ‘clean’ priest once again. If they were to reject that logic then they must reject the power of ‘Absolution’ granted from God.
Deny ‘Absolution’ as a power and you have destroyed the underpinnings of the Church itself.
Such a system, and belief structure cannot ever mesh with a world that is ever more democratic and diverse.
The question begged most of all is: “Can the Pope absolve himself, and will the world accept it?”
As to the question of Separation of Church and State…you have to ask the Catholics this: Do you want the Vatican State, or do you want the Catholic Church. The Vatican, and its denizens are NOT protected by our Constitution, nor are its representatives i.e the Cardinals, Bishops, priests etc. The pulpit of any religion has the safety of the Constitution, not the bureaucracy of the Church.

GSR wrote: “Like the poor, Catholicism will always be with us. The solution lies in introducing women into the clergy. Catholic seminaries are recruiting houses for men who have made an early and emphatic choice to not deal with their sexuality in a healthy manner. The frequency of child abuse in Catholic institutions should be reason enough for authorities to legislate to remove clergy from the proximity of children. Until we have evolved to where we can dispense with Christianity, volcano worshiping, Scientology and other cults let’s make those cults evolve to do less harm to our children.”
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Quote from The Telegraph:
”In a clear indication that the Vatican continues to insist the continual abuse revelations are part of a conspiracy the Pope said: “From God comes the courage not to be intimidated by petty gossip.”

From Walfl, on 3/28/10: [BTW, Schönborn is lying.] Ratzinger covered up two abuse scandals in Austria, and refused o act until Pope Jon Paul II. stepped in. Bishop Kurt Krenn of St.Pölten resigned in a child porn scandal, finally taking responsibility. 

The allegations over Groer brewed for 3 years, while Ratzinger did nothing. They kicked a little catholic priest out after he had shown sympathy for the victims, saying he himself was abused by Groer. Then two other catholic priests stepped up to the plate, and confirmed abuse allegations on TV. Finally the Pope made Groer resign. Ratzinger, as Prefect of the Congregation of the faith (formerly known as grand-inquisitor) did nothing, but holding his mighty hand over his Cardinal-buddies.

noneidee [3/28/10] suggests: “Here’s how you intimidate this guy, and the laity has the only power in this case: STOP GIVING UNTIL THEY DO THE RIGHT THING. These are OUR CHILDREN we are talking about. There is no more heinous crime than people in our trust (priests, teachers, coaches, scout leaders) abusing our children.”

ByeByeBushie [3/28/10] wrote:
This pope and his defenders can come up with as many excuses as they like about his sadness at being over-ruled, etc, but I would be hard=pressed to find another job that would require more of a sense of goodness, kindness and moral fortitude than committing your very life to the service of God. 

He is essentially saying that he let protocol, politics and deference to the immoral decisions of others trump his duty to God and the little children whose lives where shattered, so that his ambitions and standing in the church remained intact.
So what if he didn’t become Pope? He could have helped heal the broken and prevented future pain and crimes. One would think that would be the ultimate reward for a true “man of God”.

IHateNeoCons [3/28/10]: The Vatican is filled with Pharisees. The only contribution they can make to Christianity now is by serving as perfect examples of what truly pissed JC off.
the interesting factoid is that it seems heterosexuals are more likely to be pedophiles than homosexuals. sooooooooooooooooooooo, there may be some issues surrounding lack of women. some anthropologists have called it “situational homosexuality.”
Priests who like women do have affairs with women. Priests who are gay have sex with men. Pedophiles have sex with little boys or little girls.. Has nothing to do with being gay. I am tired of people blaming gay people. This is about the Pope’s desire to cover up what has been going on in the church for years.
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Sepulchre on 3/28/2010 wrote: Intimidated, the man has yet to show any true concern for the victims at all, and has yet to step up to the plate and let those accused go through criminal investigations.

Countess on 3/28/2010 wrote: Whenever it suits him he ignores the scandals all around him even those that took place in his homeland. He is not very impressive as a moral person or leader.

ihateliars on 3/28/2010 wrote: So yet another branch of power refuses to be shamed. He actively interfered in a criminal investigation; there will never be any charges. This has gone on for centuries, and permeates the entire church. They tried for years to say it was only an American problem. The American church has NOT cleaned up its act, nor even completed its reporting requirements. The church has Secret Archives, and layer upon layer of misdirection, cover-ups, lies, and excuses not to out these monsters. They attack the victims instead, and those who help them. People have no idea how deep and wide the corruption runs, and not just the pedophilia. As to this Pope, gee, who knew an ex-Nazi who manipulated the vote to become Pope would lie about his past? We need a new verse to the old “I was not a Nazi” polka, to cover the sexual abuse of children. I’d love to hear their excuses when they run into St. Peter…asbestos robes, anyone?

41LC on 3/28/2010 wrote: To those of us who believe the Pope is not the vicar of Christ, but the CEO of one of the world’s richest tax exempt corporations, on earth, I say prosecute the Pope as an accessory to child rape and, if he is found guilty, put him in jail, just like anyone else. 

Permit women to have positions of authority on a hobo62 on 3/28/2010 wrote: The Catholic Church tries to tell the whole world how to live while standing knee deep in their own filth.

oddjob1993 on 3/28/2010 wrote: I want Cardinal Law returned to the USA for indictment for his complicity in the cover up of crimes committed before and during his time as Cardinal in Boston. He knowingly moved around known sex offenders. He was moved to the Vatican just in time to save his incarceration.