The Church

With all this talk of late about a new Pope I thought I would record some of my opinions on a the subject.  The issue should not be who is going to be the next Pope, but what the church can do to improve its image (at least in my mind) in the world today.  The Church has to own up to its stand-or lack thereof-on the abuse of children in the US, Ireland an God knows where else.  Pope Benedict did not become the first Pope in hundreds of years to resign because he "wanted to spend more time with his family".  It seems to me the abuse scandal was getting close and he had questions to answer.  The issue of child abuse and the covering of it up is just unacceptable on the part of one of the major religious faiths in the world.  As for the laity, where is their outrage?.

The Church needs to do the following.  1) make a complete and truthful accounting of the abuses.  2) pay the victims for the crime committed against them.  3) turn the leadership of the Church over to the lay ministers and laity (Deacons).  Personally, I know two who I believe would be better religious leaders than what we have now.  4) increase the role of nuns in the leadership.  5) should speak for the poor and not the dictators, the forgotten not the elite.  6) they should lead on issues that would make the world a better place than it currently is and not follow the power-mongers.  It is time for change, real change not just a Pope from other than Europe.
Update:  I read today in The Virginian Pilot newspaper the two full page bio of Pope Francis.  Of all that coverage the sexual abuse scandal got one sentence; the last one.  I guess it is not the issue I think it should be.