Reading a column by George Will in The Washington Post the other day immediately triggered in me a feeling of anger and amazement. It was readily apparent from the article that Mr. Will is a Roman Catholic, and a devout one at that. All well and dandy, but I found it very offensive that he was gushing over the "most intriguing development in Christianity" in 2009: the changes that could occur within the Catholic Church if they go through with their offer of having Anglicans "come into their fold." A priest from a Georgetown University religious think-tank was referenced in regard to "the Vatican's enticement of disaffected Anglicans."

Contrast this with a different type of Catholic Church enticement: the venal sexual abuse of thousands and thousands of innocent children. Throughout another year there have been yet further reminders of how the entire foundation of the Catholic Church has been rife with corruption and debauchery, with the infallible Pope at the helm. Nothing really new, but nonetheless, what needs to be condemned again and again.

"Roman Catholic Church leaders in Dublin spent decades sheltering child-abusing priests from the law and most fellow clerics turned a blind eye, an investigation ordered by Ireland's government concluded Thursday." (Washington Post)

My disdain for the Catholic Church bubbles up until it boils over into a cauldron of disgust.

Unforgivably, it was not until 1995 that the first case in Ireland was reported to authorities. Obviously the Catholic Church felt that they were above any civil law, and like their compatriots in the United States, they also chose to shuffle the abusers from parish to parish. Clearly evil knows no national boundaries when it comes to the Catholic Church; they even shipped some of these perverts to the United States.

"But with the Latin Mass restored and Anglicans being courted with liturgical concessions, will the Catholic Church have three liturgies?" The aforementioned Mr. Will waxed eloquent about the "nature of the sacraments, veneration of Mary, and papal infallibility." He absolutely exuded joyousness and piety in discussing the possibility of having three different liturgies in church services. These for Mr. Will are the crucial issues of Christianity in the year just past; these are the intriguing developments in the Catholic Church. My response: Fuck the liturgies.

There can be no forgiveness, and categorically, no respect, until the Pope comes clean with a public reckoning of the obscenities that went on, year, after year, after sickening year; a culture of depravity that was known and yet kept hidden. Something on the order of a truth commission and purging of the involved individuals is the only thing that would come remotely close to easing some of the revulsion and disrespect that I feel, and which is nothing but deserved to be heaped on the Catholic Church.

Until the Pope ends all stonewalling, and fesses up as to extent of what was permitted and then covered up, he has no authority in anyone's moral universe. Until he rids all of the evil-doers and their abettors from the Church, he has no right to pontificate to a single soul. I would wager all the tea in China that the atrocities permitted in the U.S. and Ireland are just the teeny, tiny tip of the proverbial iceberg, and that the full truth of what went on throughout the entire world would be mind-numbing and devastating.

It makes me want to retch when I read of the so-called morals that the Pope preaches: How dare he speak of the sins of others when he heads a madhouse that knowingly put children in the hands of pederasts? Where does he get off on trying to lecture people on what is right and just? He has no standing whatsoever. The Catholic Church has never provided a full accounting of what they did to their flocks of children, and to this day they continue to obfuscate and try to sweep their rampant vileness under the rug. Never confess the truth is their mantra.

"Bridgeport Diocese Loses Bid to Keep Sex-Abuse Records Sealed…The papers detail decisions the diocese made in assigning priests who had molested children in the past to positions where they abused children again." (New York Times)

When it comes to priests who sexually abused children, there is a persistent denial as to the extent of how much it was tolerated and allowed to continue. These predators were shielded from the law, as if the priesthood protected them from the secular laws of the community. Instead, they were transferred to another unsuspecting parish, lying in wait to once again take advantage of vulnerable youth and continue their abuse. The message was clear: We don't have to answer to the laws of the community. We are above you, and it is only for us to determine sin and how to deal with it.

In 2002, the New York Times brought a lawsuit against a diocese in Connecticut to make public over 12,000 documents relating to the sexual abuse that priests had inflicted on boys in the parish. For seven years the Catholic Church fought against releasing the documents, having the temerity to claim a First Amendment right to keep the records sealed. Their reasoning? It would amount to government interference in "ecclesiastical policy decisions." Sorry guys, you don't get a free pass or Get Out of Jail card when it comes to crimes of moral turpitude; you may think that you are above the secular law, but you what you really need is a serious attitude adjustment.

A Bishop at the diocese, Edward Egan, was alleged to have been aware of the abuse and was instrumental in the shuffling of these degenerates from parish to parish. So what happened to the moral-minded Mr. Egan? Elevation to the post of Archbishop of New York, and later, rising even higher in the echelons, he became a respected Cardinal. Cardinal in Crime might be an even better moniker.

Forgive me for having the audacity to ask, but why is this man even allowed to remain in the Catholic Church? If these allegations are true, he should have long ago been stripped of his vestments and ex-communicated to Purgatory for the remainder of time.

But Mr. Egen is only one of the many, many legions of enabling priests who were just as evil in allowing continuation of the abuse. These men should have been castigated and thrown out decades ago. And don't even try to persuade to me that the powers that be in the unholy Vatican were not aware of what was going on. Rather, rapists and abusers were allowed to ply their craft, wallowing about in their diabolical, institutional world of wickedness.

But who cares about such meager issues like child abuse in the Catholic Church when what we should really be focusing on is which ritual is best for which parish. Perhaps one of the liturgies referred to by the esteemed Mr. Will could be recited by one of the many priests who were like jackals in search of the young. Or we could be treated to a different version of the liturgy that could be led by one of many priests who let the perversity take place in full view of the Church, the Pope, and his minions; one who turned a blind eye to the slimy behavior they all knew was taking place.

So let us reflect on the stupendous issues facing the Catholic Church during the last year, including those incredibly important liturgies. And all the while His Holiness the Infallible continues to flit around the world in his Pope-mobile, decked out in his outlandish garb and ridiculous red shoes, refusing to come to terms with the institutionalized evil that is his domain. This black stain of abuse will remain forever.