Yes. But it must not done by people like myself or you or Sinkspur, the Boston Glod and the like. It must be done by those to whom God has entrusted the care of the Church i.e. the bishops with the Holy Father. It comes with priestly consecration. All this yelling and trying to come up with solutions and demanding this and that is not worthy of the Church Christ has founded. I repeat, should the bishops fail let God handled it. But it's the way he established His Church and it has withstood stronger attacks than this in Her magnificent history.
I appreciate what you are saying, but I recall several times in the Bible that God used all sorts of odd instruments - for example, pagan kings like Nebuchadnezzar and Darius of Persia - to act as His instruments when the Chosen People were not willing to listen to their prophets and purge themselves.
Fine, but in the meantime, bishops who knowingly allow pedophiles and molesters to continue need to see the inside of a jail cell. That goes for other priests who don't report what they know.
Personally, I think that the laity should have some input on the suitability of candidates to the priesthood that will eventually serve them, just as they're supposed to have some say over the candidates for marriage (the purpose of posting the marriage bans, no?). But this presumes a much more active participation in parish life than I, for one, am accustomed to.But does the Church have no right to eliminate the wolves that have infiltrated the flock?Yes. But it must not done by people like myself or you or Sinkspur, the Boston Glod and the like. It must be done by those to whom God has entrusted the care of the Church i.e. the bishops with the Holy Father.
WE are the Church, Renatus. This "pray, pay, and obey" mentality that you seem to have is not the norm in most Catholic parishes, nor should it be.
. I repeat, should the bishops fail let God handled it.
You're not this naive, are you? We should let the men who are responsible for the mess clean up the mess without some involvement from those on whom the predators they've covered up for have preyed?
Not on your life!
We've let God "handle it" up to this point, and look where we are. God works through men, and not just ordained or consecrated men. He works through the men who pay the bills and sit in the pews and clean the Church.
We're going to have to insist that priests and bishops are accountable, and not just to themselves, or we'll have district attorneys interviewing candidates for the priesthood.