The Roman Catholic church preaches absolution of sins, the redemption and restoration of the soul from any sin that's confessed, and the absolute sanctity of the confessional. It opposes mandatory sentencing as inflexible and unjust. It teaches that ordination vows are for life and can only be removed if you, the ordained, resign them or if the church excommunicates you.

So is it no wonder the church is waffling over what to do about priests who abuse children? If they confessed it as sin, the church can't tell police. If it opposes mandatory sentencing, how can it adopt a "one-strike-and-you're-out" policy of its own? How can it discard priests when it's spent years teaching those same priests no one should be discarded? How can it fail to forgive and accept ministry from lifelong priests who seek forgiveness?

This is why I'm glad I'm not the pope (OK, it's one reason out of thousands of reasons). No one condones what abusive priests have done, but these calls for the Church to suddenly become a prosecutorial organization are flatly misguided. Ain't gonna happen. That leaves a big and open question -- what will?