Dear runner. Matthew 18 verses 5 & 6 (Words of Jesus)
"And whosoever shall receive one such little child in my name receiveth me.
But whoso shall offend one of these little ones which believe in me, it were better for him that a millstone were hanged about his neck and that he were drowned in the depth of the sea."

This would suggest that God will judge such people harshly.
"Vengeance is mine; I will repay saith the Lord (Romans 12/21)

I never mentioned castration nor any form of punishment or deterrent for that matter. Read my comment carefully - it is clear. The current Church Leadership of whom the Pope is head must rid the Church of the serpents in their midst. The veil is lifted, the dirty secrets at least partly uncovered. However the will to do that which is right in the sight of both God and Man seems to be missing. That, dear runner, suggests that the snakes have crawled to the very top of the dung pile.

A parting thought - since celibacy (which is conveniently interpreted by some as absence of sexual relations between man and woman leaving other possibilities like little boys open) is a requirement for the Roman Catholic priesthood, maybe it would be a good idea to just have the whole package surgically removed as part of the ordination process??

Now that would prove effective!

As a now very much lapsed catholic, with many relatives and friends still very much within the church's folds, I find this subject a little challenging.

While still attending church and taking communion, many of my catholic relatives are appalled at the apparent cover up of child sexual abuse by some catholic clergy.
I am appalled that they still feel the need to attend the church services of such a religion!

The cover-up of paedophile Priest activities by Bishops and other Priests over many years is a disgrace. The fact they were told to say a few prayers and beg the Lord to forgive their 'sins', and were then let back out among their 'flock' of children to offend again, makes me feel sick.

If that nauseous feeling is called 'Catholicophobia', then so be it.

The attacks by prominent Catholics - such as the Pope or Sydney's Anthony Fisher - on atheism, and in particular saying atheism or secularism (which is different) is responsible for Hitler, thus implying current atheists or secularists are too, is what has fuelled a lot of this.

Along with a lot of other misinformation and smoke'n'mirror responses to the paedophile crisis such as the Vatican trying to take control through the CDF, which Ratzinger headed for 20-25 yrs, with threats of excommunication to all parties, then trying to blame local clergy for not taking action. The case of Michael Teta highlights that.

The public can see through it and the internet allows discussion and sharing of information like never before.

Constance,

"[T]he death of God also means the death of Western morality and Western values". Why? Religious belief is not required for a system of morality, in fact religious texts(or their priestly interpreters) usually present a list of rules for believers to follow on fear of ghastly punishments in some afterlife. Ethical sytems are followed because they are of instrinsic value to societies and seen as such by the majority of their citizens. Sacred texts are continuously re-interpreted in the light of secular morality.

"We built our 'civilized' culture inspired by those who heard the voices of God", well perhaps some people actually believed that. However, the extent of true believers is rather difficult to measure as dissenters from Catholicism's teachings were often murdered barbarously by the Church. Have you forgotten the Inquisition?

I recommend 'Towards the Light' by AC Grayling, it's a history of our ancestors' long struggle to escape from the suffocating influence of the Catholic Church.

I'm not religious at all, and private schools irk me and I think RE and chaplains have no place in secular public schools, but I really think it's time to give the Catholic Church a break.

Just like I don't think the current government or Australian populace should constantly be harassed about the stolen generation, it's time to GET OVER IT.

Seriously, no action by the church would appease those who hold it accountable for the actions of some of it's priests, or the cover up of those actions. The church could sell the Vatican City and give each and every abuse victim 10 billion dollars, and publicly execute every priest suspected of any wrong doing, and that still would not satisfy most of the church's detractors.

Why? Because the hatred of the church comes first, and the cause of the abused comes second.

Constance, I don't get why you conflate the choice to live a life outside institutional religion with post modernism? That's a very big stretch, I would have thought.

Many, many people have profound spiritual beliefs, and choose not to associate themselves with any institutionalised "church." They are not secularists. Contrary to your beliefs, not believing in a particular church/religion does not necessarily mean being secularist.

There are many devout people who prefer to have a direct relationship with their god, because they are sickened and discouraged by religious institutions. You seem to be conflating such people with those who assert there is no god, or, in post modernist terms, there is no centre.