You really don’t seem to share all my concerns though...you have stated that you are comfortable with the RCC process of performing internal investigations before involving civil authorities. Based upon the results, that process is flawed. There have been many examples of church leaders (e.g. Law, and Lynn in this Philadelphia case) who didn’t seclude the accused priests and really didn’t conduct a thorough investigation.
I’m sure catholics, like everyone else, are horrified when stories like this come out. However, catholics are too entrenched in their defensive mode and can’t believe that their church culture really is to blame and still hasn’t done enough to make retribution for their mistakes or even more importantly prevent future abuses.
I have not said that. I have said I agree with the Church investigating along with appropriate civil authorities. I have also said that not all allegations rise to being credible.
There is a small part of Church culture that is to blame. The first was the growing acceptance and outright encouragement of homosexuality in the seminaries. The people training priests fell for the whole modern lies about sexuality and the right to express it. Too long to go into here but if you do a search you can find articles regarding how the culture of homosexuality came to be so common in the seminaries.
The second is the culture that confuses respect for the office with the idea that those who occupy it are somehow not capable of such horrible personal sins. The idea that a priest can do no wrong. This is common for others in positions of authority. But truly people had blinders on when it came to the conduct of some priests. Like all pedophiles or those who prey on adolescents these sick bastards carefully groomed their victims. But they can only do this if they have access. Their being priests is what gave them this access. I think red flags would have gone up for many parents if another adult male had sought out their children for so much private time. The parents trusted the priests and the priests took advantage of this.