“Any Vatican suggestion to “call the police” is decades too late, if not centuries.”
Decades too late is the point. The Church has developed processes to deal with this issue and has been doing do for decades, but that doesn’t seem to matter. It’s as though this all just happened yesterday.
Nor does it seem to matter that, according to liability insurance companies, the Catholic church has far fewer instances of pedophilia by the clergy than the Protestant churches do to say nothing of the abuse by public school teachers.
The media is after the Church because it is anti abortion and victims are looking for a payday.
And I have children and grandchildren.
If I might chime in....
This whole affair is certainly a mess to deal with is it not?...I think of the scripture...”Be sure your sin will find you out”....and this no matter the institute of which it takes place.
Schools are notorious for covering things over and shipping teachers to other school districts as well...and we all know what Washington does with their own...we are living in vile times no doubt where the innocent remain victims and the perpetrators go free.
I do think because this took place in a church makes it all the more difficult and the damage all the more tragic....it has been a long time coming for it to be cleared out and unfortunately few will escape being impacted by it....from top to bottom. But then that is how God clears things out...either it is done completely or it remains to fester yet again.
I think thus far this pope seems to have the grit to handle the investigation but moreso the understanding to meet the challenges it will bring with it. The church family needs to be patient with the process and let the path be walked until on the other side of it all. But I suspect there will be collateral damage along the way and in some cases unavoidable....quilt by association still has some considerations in the process if for none other than that association.
You are correct to think the Media can and is driving this when it is to their benefit to do so...the truth will not play out in their pages of field notes as we know .And I suspect evidence will be tossed and or hidden to protect some from the fallout, unfortunately that is how the players will play....but the fact it is in the open now, and because of this some deterrence for those who have contemplated these acts within the church present day.
I don't think we should lay blame on the victims even if some may only be looking for a pay day...sin fallout costs in many ways and God has a way of shaking finances to get someones attention...including churches.
The blame lays directly on those who have done these vile acts and to those who enabled these acts to continue....even one child is too many to have taken these attacks...no matter how gentle and sly the inducement. Snakish behavior is what it is no matter the cover of cloth one wears...but it is especially satanic when done under the cover of any church.
The political fallout will of course come into play as well...always does in institutions when crime meets power. Remember Rauhm Emmanuel loves tragedy and uses it for gain. There are those within the church who will do so as well. But few are concerned with the impact on the people of the church I'm afraid. Like politics the people are the pawns and the revenue source so they will be addressed and satisfied only as the coffers are drained in this affair.
That is a very questionable statement, given the fact that Ratzinger's 2001 letter to all the bishops stressed that all victims and their families were bound to complete secrecy after coming forward with a sexual abuse claim against a priest.
Roman Catholic apologists are clearly not dealing with reality.