This information, as sad as it is, needs to be exposed to show that it is the root cause of the many scandals in the Church. Depending on the severity of the crime, the scandalous priests and religious should be either defrocked and prosecuted or be made to enter a remote monastery to do penance for the rest of their lives. If the latter option is decided upon, these priests or religious should never again be allowed to minister.
The problem is its NOT JUST THE PRIESTS.. that's what I am saying.. the Church decided to make a deal with the devil when it dropped the ban on Homosexuals in the priesthood.... They modified it to be, ok as long as they weren't active and practicing.. and this change allowed them in the door, now more than a generation later, they are not only in the church, but they have turned many diocese into their own bath houses. Actively recruiting young gays, trading sexual favors for position and clout, covering up for one another etc etc. Any that speak out against them are pushed off into the boondocks and forgotten.
Now not all Diocese are this bad, but trust me, some are and most lay Catholics have no idea how bad some of them are. Its no longer just a gay priest here and there, they are in positions of power, appointing or refusing appointments based on favors and things.
The purge that needs to happen in some of these diocese are massive in scope... and the church needs to return to banning homosexuals from serving in the priesthood period. This "enlightened' move to remove the ban threatens the very foundations of the church... It must be stopped and the blackness must be rooted out.
Prosecuted first -- RCC has no business interfering in a police matter, and it seems like they have arrogated to themselves the authority to decide what happens to these "priests", heretics really. The church can decide whatever they want but if they interfere with an investigation or prosecution the bishop should be hauled up on conspiracy charges. Actually enforcing the law would go a long way toward putting an end to this crap.