Only if the MegaChurch’s HQs are in Rome....
The US Protestant congregations pretty much leave the crime stuff to the lawful civil authorities. Cesar and Cesar’s, Govt ordained by God for man’s peace and security from war with one another- another guy mentions this in his writing on Natural Rights too, Locke or some body....;)
Only if the MegaChurch’s HQs are in Rome....The US Protestant congregations pretty much leave the crime stuff to the lawful civil authorities. Cesar and Cesar’s, Govt ordained by God for man’s peace and security from war with one another- another guy mentions this in his writing on Natural Rights too, Locke or some body....;)
I saw this the other day: It seems civil law trumps church secrets - and it's about time .
For many centuries, the Catholic Church maintained that its clergy and religious (i.e. monks, nuns, brothers and sisters in religious orders) could not be tried in civil or criminal courts, but had to be dealt with by the Church itself. That continued until the Reformation, and even after it in some countries. The Church considered herself to be above most aspects of criminal and civil law. In some ways, it appears to still hold that belief - witness, for example, the refusal by many bishops to refer clergy child sex abuse cases to the civil authorities for prosecution.Part of that mentality was, and still is, for the Church to have secret archives of material it considers particularly confidential for one reason or another. Members of the Church do not have access to that archive; even most priests are not permitted to view its contents. They're restricted to the bishop and assistants he designates to maintain the archive. Some of its contents are routine - personnel assessments, that sort of thing. Others are far more sensitive, such as details of accusations against clergy (whether proven or not), investigations, and so on.
..... (much more stuff)
Emphasis mine.
The writer's an guy who left the RC priesthood years ago over the handling of the pedophilia scandals.