Here’s a typical Vatican strategy: when scrutinized, employ a tactic of obfuscation, and outright lies in order to avoid having to accept responsibility for immoral acts. While report after report continues to find the Vatican secretly harbored known pedophiles to keep them safe and out of jail, the world’s largest religion is busy trying to blame everyone else for the child abuse that happened under their watchful gaze.

As an avalanche of cases of pedophile priests came to light, church officials frequently defended their previous practice of putting abusers in therapy, not jail, by saying that was the norm in society at the time. Only this year did the Vatican post on its website unofficial guidelines for bishops to report pedophile priests to police if local laws require it.

In the 1970s, pedophilia was theorized as something fully in conformity with man and even with children,” the pope said. “It was maintained – even within the realm of Catholic theology – that there is no such thing as evil in itself or good in itself. There is only a ‘better than’ and a ‘worse than.’ Nothing is good or bad in itself.

I don’t know what kind of 70′s experience this fucking guy had, but I don’t recall society suddenly embracing pedophilia. The reason the Vatican never really sent any of its child rapists in jail has NOTHING to do with society, and everything to do with the way the organization functions. Ever since they first realized the sexual abuse of minors was rampant in their organization (during the 2nd century), they’ve always considered it something internal. Their own Canon Law has specific rules to “punish” this behavior, which includes community service (some even were put to work in children’s hospitals), a retreat in New Mexico where they can repent their sins, and occasionally, defrocking. You can count on one hand how many of these guys were excommunicated. It’s pathetic.

Benedict has previously acknowledged that the scandal was the result of sin that the church must repent for, and make amends with victims.

Here’s a thought: you could make amends by sending all these child rapists to jail, fuckface. Empty words don’t mean shit!)

This is the real problem: The Vatican thinks child abuse is a sin, while the rest of society thinks it’s a crime. And because this organization is given pseudo-statehood, known criminals have been allowed to escape prosecution on countless occasions. Oh, but it’s society’s fault though, cuz the Pope said so, and he’s infallible!

It’s rather hilarious that on the same day the Pope issues this statement, the Italian government seized over 23 million euros from the Vatican Bank they suspect was being laundered for crooked businessmen and gangsters. The Catholic Church has plenty of experience laundering money: they got plenty of practice doing it for the Nazis, although I’m sure they would also claim it was society’s fault they did this too.