The Catholic Church continues to wallow in the horrendous crimes of pedophile priests under the protection of bishops and cardinals. The pope expressed his outrage, and pain and used the word crime, but no solutions were offered. Rarely are priests prosecuted for their crimes. An internal tribunal created by the pope in the past disbanded in part because of the resistance within the Vatican. A board engaged in the process, that included two victims of abuse, was ineffective, and the abuse victims both resigned. This is a global problem that is not something that can be fixed by the institution of the church itself.

If Pope Francis wants to change the church, he needs to turn it inside out. An international tribunal should be established with the right and the authority to investigate, indite and convict and sentence criminals and their protectors. Pope Francis should open up the Vatican records so that all crimes in the past 50 years and their records are available for investigators. Treat it like a war crimes tribunal. These crimes should have no expiration date. Victims have a life sentence of dealing the impact of the crimes committed by pedophile priests.
By taking such action, he could show the world a serious intent of exposing and eradicating a cancer within the church. Going further, it is also necessary to start fixing the church. It is stuck in the middle ages. Only men can lead the church, is a falsehood of great impact. Is not the piety, intellect and wisdom of women equal to that of men? Women in leadership may bring a greater emotional intelligence to policy and preaching, as well as policing of the institution. Furthermore, this belief that at ordination there is an ontological transformation of man into some higher more-god-like being is ridiculous and dangerous from a physiological and sociological standpoint.

There is much evil in this world, and the Catholic Church could be an institution that shows the world a better way, but this is not possible while it is wracked with an evil within, such that it preys on its youngest most innocent members. The church has been exposed with another round of criminally indicting reports, and I’m sure more is to follow. How much more of good Christian donations are going to go to silencing victims with payouts, and protecting criminal priests? How many good and pious people are going to shy away from an organization that is so flawed. How many great priests are having to face congregations and apologize for the crimes of so many others. How many victims’ lives are ruined forever?

I’m disgusted with the institution as it exists today. I’m sure many others are as well. I do pray for the victims and pray that Pope Francis takes some real action to fix the institution and put criminals in jail where they belong.