Alex, that quote of yours:
“...the scandal was never really about the 4% abusers in their ranks. The real scandal was that 66% of bishops covered for the 4%, negatively affecting 95% of the dioceses in the United States - actions which cost the Catholic Church over three billion dollars paid in settlements and awards to the victims.”
— Alex Murphy, September 29, 2009
...is why I don’t put my trust in men or churches.
If one believes that Judaism is from God, then priests who are guilty of sexual exploitation being sheltered by superiors does not rule out the possibility that the Church is still from God, as precisely that situation arises in I Samuel 2:22-25, with Eli and the boys. They are not walking a godly path, but they are still the representatives of God—very flawed representatives, but representatives none the less.
If I were king of Wisconsin and could get the Church to strip Weakland of his clerical state, he would be facing a date with a millstone. If I were Pope, I would strip him of his clerical state. If I were God . . . but I am none of these, and trust that God in His providence will work things out for God’s greater glory.
That said, the horrible way in which the Church is run is actually a proof of divine grace. One Pope, I believe Pius VI, responded to Napoleon when Napoleon said that he would destroy the Church “You silly little man, if we and our priests haven’t managed to destroy the Church in 18 centuries, what makes you think that you can do it.”
I trust the authorities of the Church, when teaching authoritatively, to say things that ought to be listened to—and I trust providence to order things through them in such a way that God’s glory will eventually be manifest. I also suspect that words attributed to St. John Chrysostom (rightly or not I do not know) may be proven right: The walls of hell are lined with mitres. This is not to say that bishops are not ordained by Christ, but that much is expected from those to whom much is given, and so the path of salvation for a bishop is very hard and full of all sorts of temptations.
Trust God, and trust Him to act through those who He bestows authority upon—He writes straight with crooked lines.