[Protagoras]

I'm defending nothing. I commented on a despicable comment by a Catholic hater. I never talked about the Church. The poster accused the Pope personally. He didn't say it happened on his watch or he should have known, he said the pope was a willing protector of child rapists. It was despicable.

I'm not Catholic. Carry on. I've said my last on this subject.

[thoughtomator]

That said, given the behavior and statements I have witnessed with regards to the child-rape scandal, it is accurate to assert that the Church in its official capacity engaged in a cover-up and an attempt to shield those it knew were guilty. I'm sure the motivation was the protection of its own reputation and not support for child rapists, but the end result is the same.

I'm not Catholic, but I have no particular antagonistic feelings towards Catholics. I feel in general that Christianity engenders decency and civility in human beings, and that it is a good thing. But the Vatican is corrupt head-to-toe. I know because I've been there, on the inside, and personally experienced the corruption, which verifies what is publicly known. Once the Vatican cleans up its act then I will have no problem with it. As long as it is an agent that defends evil, however, I will have a serious problem with it. The people who might exaggerate a little bit in their frustration with what claims to be not just a, but THE moral leader, are not the problem.