Corruption and Pedophilia: The Face of the Catholic Church as we Know It

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A few decades ago we could have hoped that, with new leadership, with greater awareness of the moral environment with which the Catholic Church was surrounded--an environment that derived its moral values either from sources that did not refer to religion at all, or where those values were not mediated by clerical authority-- that the Catholic Church could purge itself of its incredible moral liabilities.  But it did not happen.  Evidently the Catholic Church thought itself Too Big To Fail.

I'm far from being an oracle of any sort, but Rome is circling the drain.  For centuries, Rome --and I mean the church hierarchy, not a geographic location, necessarily-- provided a putative moral and philosophical compass to the feeble-minded Catholic masses, inspiring the phrase Opiate of the Masses, one of the lines for which Karl Marx will be remembered for ever.  In return for their loyalty and money, Rome provided assurances that the misdeeds of the faithful had been adjusted in the big Account Book In The Sky.  But over the years, children molested by priests had come to believe that their disgust and self-respect mattered more than the authority of the church.  Rome had miscalculated.

What was the result of the miscalculation?  It is clear now that Rome is no more The Church than any other denomination.  And the clergy of most other denominations conduct themselves with a great deal more decency, pound for pound, than do the clergy of Rome.  Or maybe not; we know that there's many more tons of Roman clergy than there is of most other denominations, and it's all pedophilic dead weight.

What is going on?  Rome had come to regard pedophilia as an occupational hazard.

Well, of course it is.  Rome wants to attract vital, passionate men to its service, and then keep them celibate.  In hindsight, this is such a laughable plan.  As long as society condoned the abuse of women and children in certain "special circumstances", you could have the pretense of Brother John being a saint, and you could turn a blind eye on him feeling up your young daughter.  Our standards of sainthood have gone up, and the volume of crap that our daughters --and sons-- are willing to put up with has gone down.  And Rome will go down with it.

You can't have pedophilia being considered an occupational hazard of anything.  There is one word that comes up when we talk about any sort of sexual activity: consent of an adult.  [OK, 3 words.]  Rome must either relax its standards of celibacy to permit sex between priests and consenting adults, or consider a catastrophic loss of its autonomy and power.

More than a religious organization, Rome has become a financial foundation that has enormous financial obligations.  Many of its clergy live well, by the grace of millions of financial contributors.  If the stream of incoming money were to be threatened, some of Rome's most effective and powerful men and minds will not be sticking around.  Once the enforcers are gone, the sheep will probably find greener pastures.  I'm not particularly happy at the prospect, but the combination of living in denial and sheer arrogance is deeply annoying to many people.  Rome, of course, is claiming to be under siege, but it is under siege from within.  I don't think being indignant will save them.

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