I am Catholic and as a result, Christian, and I think that the Church made a huge mistake in not prosecuting the guilty. My other thought is this: how many of the priests are actually innocent of the charges levied against them? It always makes me suspicious when a charge is made and then all of a sudden it becomes an epidemic. It's like, "OOH look!! I can get attention by saying what HE said, so let me think which priest I want to accuse." People like that just make me ill because they cast a shadow over the REAL victims.

I have a friend at school who was molested all through her teen years by her father who would use her and then pass her around to his friends and as a result, she had had mental problems ever since and has to constantly battle the demons that haunt her. I've seen first hand the devastation that occurs with molestation and it's not pretty. I think that, not just the priests need to be evaluated, but also the victims.

I do NOT agree with the Church's stand of just taking the priest out of the dioceses and putting him in an adminstrative position where he won't be around kids. If a priest is truly guilty, then he should be prosecuted to the full extent of the law. The Church is going to have to climb out of the 13th century and join us in the 21st century and realize that they are now under a microscope and had better do something to rectify the situation. Until that time, I have to live with what we've got: a flawed system, not unlike just about any large system in the world. I take solace in that the guilty with have to answer to a higher power when they leave this world.