Are you really that naive?
There is absolutely no reason to doubt that there exists a large number of Catholic priests who have sexually abused children.
The same can be said, with equal authority, of Protestant ministers and public school teachers. We can add policemen,doctors, politicians, and virtually every occupation and every familial relationship title.
All it takes is a sexually perverted adult with access to a child to create a victim.
I personally know a few mothers and fathers who even blamed their own child for “their involvement in sexual perversion”.
It's an extremely ugly crime, and the victims of it carry a lifetime legacy of subtle societal punishments.
First from the act itself.
Then from the guilt of the very people who were supposed to protect them from harm, but failed, and generally end up blaming the victim for their guilt in failing to protect the child.
The Catholic Church doesn't have the patent on that.
People in all walks of life, in all societies, tend to try to cover up, or otherwise pretend away the brutal sexual abuse of children and women, mostly by blaming the victims and/or refusing to even acknowledge someone they associate with is capable of such perversion.
Like you just did.
It is not built into the tenets of any Protestant church I know of, or any public school or summer camp or Boy Scout troop to keep accusations of sexual abuse quiet, away from police and even parents, and to simply “handle them in house.”
In fact, those organizations have regulations in place that demand that any suspicion or accusation of sexual assault on children be brought to police authorities.
Not Rome. Rome says to only tell someone in the RC hierarchy. In fact, Rome swears to secrecy ALL people involved, such that parents are restrained from going to the police under thread of excommunication.
Read the links in 27. Rome stands condemned by its own hand.
What are you saying I did?
It’s worse coming from someone who claims to be speaking in God’s stead, who claims to be one of Christ’s representatives here on earth.
Leaders in the church are to be held to a much higher standard of behavior and integrity than non-leaders. It’s a given. The thing that makes it more reprehensible is that it taints a child’s image of God in a way that no other person can.
Nobody is really condemning that it happened. We all understand that things like that will on occasion. Realistically, there is simply no way to prevent it.
That’s not the point. The point is that it was not dealt with, it was covered up, priests were reassigned, victims are blamed to be looking just for a cash layout, victimizing them yet again.
The clear teaching of Scripture (1 Corinthians 5) is that the immoral brother in the church be expelled. Church discipline MUST take place. Failure to do so is absolutely inexcusable and THAT is what is being criticized.
If sin within the church isn’t dealt with expediently and appropriately, it will continue and get worse. That is what has happened in these cases. It wasn’t until the WORLD got involved that appropriate steps were taken. That should have never happened. It should have been nipped in the bud the MINUTE it was found out, not only after negative publicity forced the church to take action as damage control.