The Catholic Church attracts sex scandals the same way a porch light attracts flies.
Although, the newest round of revelations showing that the current Pope (and past) covered up for child molesters is in a category of its own. But wait, it’s not the Church’s fault they never once tried to protect the children, but rather choose to protect the abusers. It’s the media’s fault for making them look bad, so goes their newest talking point. That old saying, “The dress doesn’t make your butt look big, your butt makes your butt look big” applies itself perfectly here. Journalists uncovering documents revealing Cardinals and Bishops knowingly allowed abusive Priests to remain in their positions makes the Church look bad. Not the media. However, blaming the media is a nice little distraction these days, which makes me wonder if the Catholic Church is getting PR advice from Sarah Palin.
I’m in the middle of reading Christopher Hitchens’ book, God is not Great: How Religion Poisons Everything, which states the case of how corrupt and poisonous religion can be. I don’t think there’s anything wrong with believing in God – He’s fine – it’s the people here on earth who do all the corrupting. Which, I think the book should be re-titled, Religion is not Great: How People Poison Everything. Anyway, his point is being made 100 times over with these new findings.
It’s no longer just a few bad apples scattered around the Church; It’s the freaking Pope, the successor to Saint Peter, the leader of all Catholics, the Supreme Pontiff, the…you get the point – he’s an important guy. Before he was Pope, he wasn’t just any Cardinal, apparently he was one of the most influential men in the Roman Curia (which makes sense, you’ve got to be pretty damn important to be elected Pope). And as one of the top dogs, he helped in the cover up. And now they’re saying nothing.
But I guess I didn’t really expect all that much out of the Catholic Church. Last time this stuff was in the news, it just cost them about a billion dollars. Now, as they remain silent and defiant in the wake of this scandal, it’s costing them their souls.
