[DustyMoment]

"Does not decades of multiple abusive priests + decades of mutiple bishops moving priests from parish to parish + decades of cover-ups = CONSPIRACY at high levels?"

On the surface it might seem so, but what you have is a collection of enablers who might seem to have acted with one mind but, IMO, are independent enablers. As difficult as this may sound, I believe that the church hierarchy refused to press charges aginst its priets because they thought they were being forgiving of the behavior as, perhaps, they believed Jesus might. In the long run, they just ended up acting as enablers. Even today, within the church, they are unwilling to condemn the behavior of pedophile priests who continue molesting children. In spite of all of the publicity and lawsuits against the church, I think that the church hierarchy is still practicing forgiveness as opposed to retribution.

I also think that church politics enters into the equation because they believed that they were protecting the reputation of the church. Clearly, in 20/20 hindsight, that approach hasn't worked. However, it does serve to raise the question of just how long this behavior has been condoned by the church. IMO, this has been going on in the church for centuries, not just decades as the church leaders would have us believe. It has, in essence, become a corporate culture.

[AngrySpud]

Good points, but I can't help thinking Bishop "Smith" and Bishop "Jones" often commiserated with others at the Bishops Synods: comparing notes, strategies, and tactics over the years.

Forgiveness, in my opinion, would have been a very minor piece in the "equation" -- the equivalent of a "rounding error".