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How about Eagan, the biggest, covered up strangelet of them all. Come out now!

And let me add to that a greedy organization, and a misogynist one.

Excuse me, Bernie - I don't know what Catholic Church you are talking about - it is not the one I grew up in! In my experience that church has earned every drop of animosity it attracts. The Catholic Church is a fascist organization that is rotten to the core.

To answer #9 and #16, as a devout Catholic, the essence of my religion is my connection God. I believe in the articles of the Nicene Creed, and I agree with many of the Church's positions on social justice and the sanctity of life (from conception through death). I wish the Church took different stands on issues of gender and sexuality, and I am still heartbroken by the abuse scandals. But most of the comments I read on this board about the Catholic church reduce its doctrines to fit an "us vs. them" culture war perspective. And the amount of animosity and prejudice that I read here (and on previous show pages) is staggering.

It makes me livid every time I hear White female feminists whine about inequality and unfair treatment. White females can be just as racist as their male counterparts. Where were the feminists when Hilary was being kicked to the curb by all of those white Republican men.

Like a lot of Black women,I was supportive of Hilary throughout the period of time in which she faced extreme criticism from hateful white women. Remember that great feminists Maureen Dowd of the New York Times editorial page? More recently, a white female referred to Hilary as a "Bitch" at a John McCain campaign event.

Hilary has let racism rear its ugly head into her campaign and her Arkansas born and bred husband has lead the charge. Whether Hilary wins the nomination or not, there will be no going back. The cat is out of the bag. She will learn the hard way that Congresswoman Tubbs of Cleveland and her Black campaign manager Maggie Williams are in no way representative of the Black female version of a true feminists. Meet Michelle Obama, the quintessential face of a Black feminist.

These prists are pedephiles not homosexuals. It's the difference between a heterosexual and a rapist. Big difference!

Charles 8 , pope did say 'PEDOPHILE' I think.
this will continue if priests (all men) are ask to deny their own sexuality (and other people's also)
church has lost touch. numbers are down in EU and in USA people go to church but do what they want to do.

The church seems to be going after gay priests -- to rout them out -- as their solution to the child abuse issue. I wish we went further with this conversation. Couldn't the Roman Catholic Church do something like sell Raphael's School of Athens to the Metropolitan Museum to pay very good settlements to victims of child abuse? Errors are understandable. As a pentitent and holy Church, the RC establishment has a great opportunity to show that the church is genuinely Christ among us.

I have a question similar to David's (#9). Unfortunately, there is no way to ask without sounding flip, but it seems many Catholics in America have a problem with the governing structure of the Catholic church and wish to "Americanize" it--make it transparent and democratic. As a non Catholic, it seems to me that this is a structure that existed thousands of years before its American followers and will be around thousands of years after its current followers. If the faithful are so unhappy with this structure, why are you a member of this church, scandal aside? I apologize if the tone of the question comes across as disrespectful, but I don't quite understand wanting to change a religion instead of accepting it for what it is.

the bishop of rome should talk about the evil of the war

The clergy get away with it because the "faithful" let them get away with it. It's time to let them pay for their sins, as it were, by keeping on this and not fawning over them and allowing them to hold power over you. When I see Wolf Blitzer all tingly telling how exciting for him it was to receive a gold medal of the pope's head, it doubt his reporting on the man (who BTW, I think is a nazi) will be anything more that bland reporting at best. It's time to take control of our own lives and not stand for anything less that truth and honesty.

Well, the other question is: Why is it that if a priest is caught having sex with a man, he'll be out on his butt in a heartbeat, but if he's caught having sex with a MALE child, it's not the same thing or (as I believe obviously) even worse? It's like they don't see it as homosexuality...

i love how the pope is so vocal about poverty prevention when everyone knows one of the most effective methods of poverty aid is BIRTH CONTROL.

the irony is bitter.

i cannot imagine the treatment of this child rape issue will be any less hypocritical since it is directly linked to their inherent culture of secrecy and celibate priests.

combine celibate priests with deep bush administration style secrecy.....you are pretty much guaranteed to get the result that we got.

self regulation is meaningless. It doesn't work in banking, business, or religion. Having the priests regulate themselves is a recipe for failure.

The US Supreme Court is considering this week whether to make the DEATH PENALTY legal for child rape!!!!! This affects mostly poor men of color, but what about the religious?

I have a question for the board, particularly those who are Roman Catholic.

It seems to me that several official RC teachings are out of touch with mainstream American values. I think of denying ordination to women, requiring priests to be celibate, denying a place for practicing gays and lesbians (or expecting gays and lesbians to deny a fulfilling physical and emotional relationship), and even excluding other Christians by calling the RC Church the "true" church and not offering Holy Communion to non-RC Christians.
Giving this, what has kept so many Americans in this church?

I also do not hope any reads into my question that I don't recognize flawed theology in other churches. All have imperfections, most frequently with a long-standing discriminating persecution of LGBT.

Just curious.

The Pope feels free to critzise 'homosexuals' while failing to even say the word 'PEDEPHILE'. WHY is it 'sexual abuse' and NOT PEDEPHILIA?

Just because the Vatican is its own government doesn't mean that priests have diplomatic immunity. It's ridiculous that we simply rely on the Vatican to deal with criminal acts in its own house, and yet that's exactly what we've done with the a few exceptions.

Well, I think that when you consider that he was neck-deep in the cover up, it's a little disengenuous for the Pope to come out with all this sympathetic language, and I think it was highly inappropriate for him to meet with victims families without giving his personal apology for his conduct.

I mean, I heard a good point the other day. If this had been a huge day care corporation with branches in every city in the country and it was discovered that people who worked at a number of those day care centers were raping children in the THOUSANDS and the CEO of that corporation knew about and tried to cover it up, he'd be doing hard time, the employees directly responsible would be doing jail time, and the company would be shut down.

Child molesting within the Catholic Church is not limited to the US alone. The Church is world wide organization and a haven for pederast everywhere.

Your caller is right! My mother and I, both native Bostonians, walked out of Santa Maria Maggiore (very important basilica) and there was Law walking around free while so many men are still suffering! We were shocked to see everyone in awe of him. Two Italian men saw our expression and thought we wanted to meet him. Beat him was more like it! He should be defrocked and sent to jail as should the priests who were responsible for this. MONSTERS!!!

I was hesitant to mention this and please do not mention my name...but I was a victim (luckily it was short-lived and not severe) of abuse when I was growing up in Ireland and nothing was done with the priest in question, other than he was sent away for a year to France (what a hardship!). This particular priest was notorious school wide as an abuser - to what degree I do not know, I was only 13 years of age at the time.

Please do not attach my name to this comment, thanks.

wasn't he part of the cover up though.

Its good the Pope is raising the issue of the child abuse scandals but the proof is in the pudding as to what he's now going to do, especially with the bishops who were complicit. He needs to clean house and quickly. Apologies are great but they are not enough. The credibility of the Catholic church is at stake and more importantly some sense of justice for the victims. The Pope must be seen to follow through and DO the right thing, not just SAY the right thin.