Sorry but I don't agree with you at all!... These are different times, we have means (Internet) to make our voice heard now... To sit on one's a** and let the RCC go the wrong way (as they did with sexual abuses) and do nothing, say nothing... is NOT to love the church. On the contrary, fighting to clean it up and putting their feet to the fire (Bishops), is the way the go, I feel this deep down in my heart. One thing our Bishops have demonstrated is that they can not be trusted... completely. They seem to be caught on the wrong side of things too often.
Actually, the Catholic Church took action to clean up the problem in its ranks. Can you tell me what is being done to address these problems?
Sexual Abuse of Children by Protestant Ministers
Sexual Abuse of Children by Teachers
Sexual Abuse of Children by Rabbis
Sexual Abuse of Children by .... Imams, Camp Counselors, Babysitters, Mom's co-habiting partner ..... shall I go on?
It's good to heed the words of Our Lord.
How can you say to your brother, 'Brother, let me remove that splinter in your eye,' when you do not even notice the wooden beam in your own eye? You hypocrite! Remove the wooden beam from your eye first; then you will see clearly to remove the splinter in your brother's eye.
Luke 6:42
You missed the point. The bishops may be wrong the priests may be wrong and should be punished But the teachings of the Catholic Church ARE NOT WRONG! There have been instances in Church history where all the Bishops have been in schism except Rome. The Church Survived. The bishops and priest are still men and still make mistakes and if need be be punished by civil authorities so be it and they will ultimately face Christ. People use priest and bishops as excuse to leave the Church all the time. They challenge teachings up the Catholic church that they have a no right to challenge. This in most situations is a result of poor catechizes of the individual
There's a fine line between speaking up and making oneself holier than the Church. I agree that the laity have had to bear a much greater burden in trying to end abuses, than should have ever taken place, but oftentimes the 'hold the feet to the fire' approach turns into character assassination, calumny, gossip, and outright slander based on misinformation and lies originating elsewhere. In essence, one has to walk a tightrope between constructively critizing a priest/bishop for their failings and criticizing the office itself, which is a grave sin.
Light a candle and you'll shed light on the situation.
Light a torch and you'll shed light on the situation... but maybe burn the place down, too.
Because I live in New Mexico, I know that the Catholic Church tried to do something about the pedophiles in the Church. Twenty five years before it all became national news we were dealing with them because this is where they were sent to rehabilitate.
They didn’t ignore them, on the advice of psychiatrists, they tried to heal them.
While most parishes are now doing things to make sure that it doesn’t happen again, my parish and diocese have been doing those things since its inception.
People in the Archdiocese of Boston had been aware of the three priests who were the most prominent in the scandal that erupted, but it's instructive to know that it wasn't until just before the Supreme Judicial Court sent down it's edict forcing homosexual marriage on the state, that it became a big news story. Those who knew the Church would be a major force in opposition to homosexual marriage pushed the story in the media in order to reduce the effectiveness of any opposition by the Catholic Church, and sadly, it worked.
Even before the story broke, Cardinal Law had begun the process to screen seminarians, and volunteers in Parishes, so that this wouldn't happen again. Those measures were already in place when all this hit the fan, and Cardinal Sean O'Malley just followed through on those rules, when he took over the Archdiocese. Most instances you hear about today, happened many years ago, but the victims are only now speaking out. And sadly, a good number of those new accusations are false, from folks who just want to get some quick money.