PLAYER57832 wrote:The problem with this is part of why we had the Reformation. The Roman Catholic church is by its very nature a hierarchy where the priests are above the parishoners, the Pope above it all.
No, that is not why we had the reformation. A complete discussion of the complex nature of the church at the time of the reformation is not really worth the time or the effort. Part of the diving force (political) behind the reformation was the parallel complex hierarchies between the religious and civil structures. Basically, the whole order of kings and even knights was based on and depended on religious blessings. The reformation allowed the kings to take authority over the church leaders. But that, as they say was long ago. A result of the reformation, ironically, was a significant increase in clericalism in the Roman Catholic Church.
So as we get into the 20th century, the Bishop is the central unit of authority in the Roman Catholic Church. Bishops themselves form hierarchies of various sorts with the Pope the top of these hierarchy. Never the less, the ancient tradition that the local "Pastor" while appointed by the local bishop and serves the local bishop should be above "episcopal politics" continued in the 20th century; once appointed pastor, a priest could be transferred to a new parish but unless he retired could not be forced out of his role as pastor.
There is also the musical chair problem that also developed at the same time. Priests were routinely moved around from parish to parish; mostly to prevent them from getting to friendly with the local population. This allowed them to also move problems around the system as well; if you complained about Father Fred, he got moved somewhere else. By the end of the 20th century, priests were being forced out of old parishes where they were loved without any destination to go to. A local priest who originally came from India had to almost go back to India because not many parishes around the area could understand his Indian accent.
But then again, who really cares. This is a lot like the gun control issue, where people scream against "assault rifles" when in fact the majority of mass shootings are done by people with multiple pistols. The Roman Catholic Church has started to look into the pedophile problem seriously, and the ice water that was poured over the church impacted everyone. Every person who may even remotely be in contact with children are not required to take "
VIRTUS" certification courses. And who is a pedophile? They are homosexual and heterosexual. They are male and female. They are single and they are married. In short, ANYONE CAN BE A POTENTIAL PEDOPHILE.