[Incorrigible]

Here's another thread that was running last night.

Vatican Issues New Rules on Pedophile Priests

I was an alter boy and attended an all-boys Catholic school but never was approached (nor anyone else I know of) by a priest in an inappropriate way.

If I was, I would prefer they be dealt with in the legal system rather than an ecclesiastical court.  I don't know what penalties can be issued by this court other than damnation in Hell but society need to be protected from the pedophile until that time comes.

[redhead]

I don't have any DETAILS at hand, but I suspect that the reason this has come down is that there are still many corrupt bishops and cardinals in high positions in the Vatican. The Pope would probably be one of the last to know most of this, since these functionaries have more than a little autonomy. However, during the fifties and sixties, especially, an effort was made to install "friendly" officials and sympathetic bureaucrats as heads of particular areas of Vatican government in order to implement certain changes in procedure in the Vatican. Alice Von Hildebrand has written a very interesting article on this topic in one of the Catholic magazines now in print. (Her husband was a famous theologian, and she is an expert and theologian/philosopher in her own right). I would love to hear HER take on all of this.