Damned Catoholics!!

[Waratah]

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Just recently, the Anglican Church here in Australia defrocked some clergy for sexual abuse - even though the clergy had never been criminally convicted, and have threatened to sue the Church. It was done rather quietly, and without controversy (outside of the Church).

The problem with the RCC isn't the fact that sexual abuse took place. Any large enough organization will have criminals in it. Government-operated care facilities and schools, NPO organizations working with the vulnerable, there are plenty. Even the children's parents.

The problem with the RCC is politics - their policies are made and enforced by their hierarchy just like most large businesses and organizations, except that with the RCC this leads to the Vatican, which is its own sovereign State and thus believes that they're above the law. Their policy on sexual abuse was to "preserve the image of the church". Their policy was to persuade parents and victims to drop the allegations and charges. Their policy was to keep the facts to themselves and away from the law. This included paying off victims in deals made behind closed doors, and protecting clergy from the law by harbouring them in asylum (and in fact we know without a shadow of a doubt that the RCC is still giving asylum to priests wanted for sexual abuse).

It has very little to do with what is a "matter of confession". It was all due to their politics, and their immoral self-preserving behaviour.

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