George,
You seemed to have missed one crucial point. Parishioners who saw priests abuse children reported the same to the church authorities. The church authorities did nothing to help the kids. All they were interested in, was protecting themselves. Secondly, it seems that every time I go to church nowadays, there is a second collection for the "Bishop's needs." These collections are for substantial amounts. The Catholic church will never go bankrupt. The Lord will not allow that to happen. Mervyn George Pinto wrote: “The other side of that coin, is the Vatican knows any admission of legal guilt is grounds for the many legal cases filed in the USA to end in huge monetary judgments which will bankrupt the Church. The Pope knows that and that is why every response he gives in this matter is careful about admitting moral guilt but not legal guilt. There is NO ONE on this planet who can thread the fine line the Pope has to take if he wants to avoid bankrupting the Catholic Church especially through USA courts (put yourself in the Pope's shoes and see what great solution you can come up with given your Papal responsibility)”. Roland. Toronto.