Hi Yuri,

I agree with much of what you have said, but one thing I can't agree with is the notion that acts of bad can be expunged, or balanced, by acts of good, like some counter balance set of scales. "Look, he has done 1kg of bad, but that has been balanced by his 1kg of good". To give you an example, Al Capone committed many crimes, but he also gave to the neighborhood poor, does that mean Al Capone was neither good nor bad, just neutral. No, Capone was both good and bad, if you are looking at bad, then he was bad, his good is not relevant. The same applies to the Catholic Church. The copout for Christians is that the miraculous unseen God, can bestow forgiveness, and all you have to do is be contrite about your sins. Sure, can't change the past, but true restitution is also required when wrong doing has taken place. Another example, I'm speeding down the road, no care, unthinking,feeling good about it. I fail to give way to you as I should and we have an accident, I'm clearly in the wrong, now I'm truly sorry about what's happened, it's my fault, I apologies profusely to you. Is that the end of the matter, I have been contrite, God no doubt has forgiven me for my wrong doing, is that it, the end of the matter? My car, not much damage, still drivable, so I'll drive home, you can wait for the tow truck!

Thank you, Paul, for your perspective. However, the Catholic Church does not teach that good deeds "cancel out" bad ones like balancing a scale. Sin is not erased by offsetting good works, but by true repentance, confession, and - where possible - restitution. Al Capone’s charitable acts don’t excuse his crimes; likewise, individual sins within the Church’s history do not negate the good it has done, but neither are they excused. The Church calls for acknowledgment of sin, repentance, and reparation - both personally and corporately.

Your car crash analogy actually aligns with Catholic teaching. Contrition is not enough; justice demands we take responsibility and make amends. That’s why the Church teaches about penance and restitution. Forgiveness is not a “copout”—it is the beginning of transformation, not its end. The Church does not claim perfection in her members but calls all to holiness, repentance, and healing. Justice and mercy go hand in hand.

Hi Again Yuri,

The Catholic Church is the "Super Tanker" of churches, and super tankers take a long time to turn about. When it was revealed that individuals (clergy) within the Church had committed horrendous crimes against children, anther crime took place, the Church hierarchy attempted to minimise the damage, including some recent Popes, through cover up and secrecy. The motives for this were twofold, one supposedly to protect the "good name of the Church", the other, reasons financial, they just didn't want to pay compensation to victims. Has the Church done enough to demonstrate true contrition, I believe not, there are still those within the Church who want to continue the cover up and protection racket. Put bluntly the Church has to fess up big time, and payout big time. Also it has to make doubly sure it has in place solid mechanisms to prevent these crimes from ever occurring again.

Unfortunate, there is evidence that paedophilia within the Church has moved off shore, and little is being done about the disgusting behavior by some Clergy in third world countries, another cover up.

The Church's attitude towards women, minorities, etc, its speaking out on social/political issues has to occur for it to remain relevant in a modern world. This will require progressives within the Church to hold sway over the powerful conservative elements. Can a bunch of old men achieve that?