It is not just a problem within the American Catholic Church, it's a worldwide-disaster and though the Pope may not have been aware of the details of each case, did it ever occur to him to ask why the $1.5 billion in pay-offs were being made? Insurance did not cover it all, and as I am sure you are aware, the present situation is threatening bankruptcy to several dioceses. This did not happen overnight.
Although I am now a Protestant, I was a Catholic many years ago and an altar boy also. I and my family were VERY close to the clergy and the Catholic Church. I can smell a homosexual a mile away. NEVER did I EVER meet a priest who was like one of these predators.
As Ms. Noonan implied in her editorial, this issue can be clouded by individuals with another agenda - Catholic bashing.
As she also said in her editorial, the 70's and 80's and 90's were really bad times for America. Public morality is at an all time low. Moral relativism has become an accepted fact of life among the public and too many churchmen. Perhaps this will be the beginning of a movement back to what religion should be about and a correction in this dangerous turn towards approving what appears to be popular, rather than what is biblical correct.