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Jesus used a rock to found a church that would last until His return. He did not start a polling company that blows with the winds of change.

And yet the church is made of men and men are fallible. The Pope spoke out against the war with Iraq and Catholics ignored him when his position differed from their own. He spoke out against capitol punishment and Catholics ignored him, choosing their own wisdom over that of the church he represents. But Catholics carry the Church and the Pope like a banner before them on matters where they agree.

I can not imagine Jesus, as head of the church, tolerating and covering up sexual abusing priests for even an instant.

Jesus confounded the religious leaders of His day and I have no doubt that when He returns, our religious leaders will oppose Him, focusing again on the letter of the Law at the expense of love.

" And yet the church is made of men and men are fallible."

That sums it up. In spite of the failings of the "Peters", Jesus knew our failings and still selected men to transmit His teachings. I'll accept the guarantee of Jesus that He is with the Church to teach His truths in spite of our weaknesses in following them.

You are reading the signs of the times wrong. What I used not to understand but now do is that every catholic is not required to agree with the Pope on every issue. Every word that comes out of his mouth is not infallible. It is his interpretation of scripture that is infallible.

The pedophile priests are, I believe, in for a nasty surprise. I'm hoping that as a symbolic act the new pope will publicly knot together a whip out of cords and flog these moneychangers out of the temple. Excommunication for all who have been involved in either the behavior or the cover-up. Perhaps an inquisition, though they have to find a nicer sounding name. To me this issue is the biggest threat to the RC church as it destroys credibility -- people reason "why should I listen to them when their own house isn't clean," and even worse "I would not leave my child in any situation with a catholic priest where there is a chance they might be alone." Or even "I just don't think it's a healthy environment for my child to be in."

SO, it's easy to see why the church is hemorrhaging members here in the US and elsewhere the buggerers are active. They must be scourged or the church will die.