...If “Chaucer” were alive today, would he be surprised at how applicable and up-to-date with the exploits of many Priests from the RC Church, are his characters from “Canterbury Tales”!

...Maybe it is time for parishioners to revisit the history books for answers! The spirituality of the Church must be “reinvented” from the outside in. Accept that the Protestant Reformation was the result of a fundamental need to address questions of spirituality and morality of the Catholic Church!

What was interesting about this essay was the admission that a small but significant percentage of Jesuit priests were either psychopaths or sociopaths. Or that something has always been rotten in the state of (Jesuit) Denmark.

Why were such obviously deranged, not fit for human company, miscreants permitted to remain as priests. What does that say about the moral credibility of the Jesuit superiors?

Is it therefore any kind of surprise that the "catholic" church has a credibility problem re the serial misbehaviour of these miscreants, and that the church hierarchy systematically and deliberately covered up their crimes.

Remembering too that in some right-wing "catholic" circles priests are promoted as being "icons of 'christ'" or living exemplars of the supposed truth and cultural superiority of the "catholic" tradition.

"...it is far from clear how best an ordinary Catholic could and should respond to this spectacle of culpability."

It's perfectly clear to me: get out. If you were an employee of an organisation or a member of a political party which was caught out in this sort of activity, the ethical thing to do would be to sever all connections with it. I can't see why the same doesn't apply to an organised religion. As long as you go on turning up at church, endorsing their services and putting money in the collection plate you are conniving at these vile crimes. Fortunately, as many ex-Catholics have discovered, it's not compulsory.

Check out 50 Reasons To Boycott the "catholic" church by Adam Lee.

An essay which should disavow anyone of any romantic notions about the nature of the "catholic" church and its leadership, especially under Ratzinger and the previous pope too.

It is available vailable via Alternet.

Christians are supposed to be diametrically opposed to sin. The crucifixion took place precisely to take away the punishment for sin, not to set up organisational structures which commit and hide it. Where is the public acknowledgement from any catholic spokesmen that the church has condoned sin of this magnitude for such a long time? How disgusting. The Reformers broke up the catholic church because of entrenched corruption hundreds of years ago. How little has changed. I hope the Royal Commission throws every book it possibly can at this disgraceful and degenerate cancerous blot on the real Christian church.

I feel a Royal Commission into child abuse will achive nothing---like the intervention in Indiginous people in Northern Australia.
If you have a serious enquiry into something, all facts must be on the table. If only it could be like Air Crash Investigations on TV.
Consider these "facts".
1/ Catholic Priests have as part of their job children with sex issues. So getting into trouble with children could come under Workers Compensation.
2/ Girls in the 7-12 age bracket can be very precocious and eager to try their sexual powers on vunerable males. Not suggesting for a minute that this should be taken advantage of by anyone.
3/ Society is too eager to denigrate men as sexual predators. Nothing makes women happier than to denigrate men and at the same time raise the price of sex.
4/ If men were happily married, I contend that most sex crimes against children would never happen.
I agree with previous posts that about 2% of men may be "natural" pedophiles. But even this "disease " could be eliminated if women would agree to democracy in the control of sex. I doubt if women will give up this power or even discuss any of the above problems. Regretably a Royal Commission will be a waste of time and money.