When I was a kid and confessing my sins, I was told that the priest represented Christ.  We were taught that the Pope was the Vicar of Christ.  We gave the priests a great status of respect because he represented God.  We looked up to him.  

 

Today we're taught that the priest has the power to call down Christ from His Thrown at every Mass so that the host can be converted into the body of Christ.  According to Catholic Theology, a priest is a very godly representative.

Now, if a school teacher would have abused so many young boys, there would be such outrage and certainly, punishment for him and all others that turned the other way.  
The outrage for a priest should be a thousand times more.  
  He abused one or more children.  
  He exposed sexual sin and homosexuality to one or more children.  
  Just as terrible, he was able to do this because he was the trusted representative of God.  Instead of representing God to teach what He has said, the priest was a deceiver.  He misrepresented God.  
The Bible is very clear that all three are terrible sins.

 

I know that Catholics don't approve of what has happened.  But some Catholics are defending the Catholic Church.  It's terrible that the Catholic Church is relying on the "Catholic Faithful" to blindly support their church.  At the 2010 Easter Mass, Angelo Cardinal Sodano, Dean of the College of Cardinals, offered these words in prayer: “Holy Father, on your side are the people of God, who do not let themselves be influenced by the petty gossip of the moment.”  In the Name of God he protects the sins of the Catholic Church and persecutes the ones exposing the sin.  Anyone who tries to pass this atrocity as "petty gossip" is greatly deceived by sin.  

To make matters worse, Bill O'Reilly of the O'Reilly Factor, wrote an article to defend the Catholic Church and said, "The United States is not the people who lead it. It is all of us. It’s not corrupt priests or apathetic leaders in Rome. It’s Jesus and his followers, the folks who sit in the pews on Sunday. And that’s good enough for me.¹"  He may not realize it but he is close to the Biblical understanding of the "Body of Christ" but he does not understand the church that he supports.  Those "apathetic leaders in Rome," supported by the priests, are the ones who decide the doctrine and rules the Catholic Church.  You cannot have a Catholic Mass without a priest.  So, if you are looking for the followers of Jesus, they will not be following these men whose theology is very, very wrong.  

 

There are some very loving caring priests and nuns but compassion does not make you a Christian.  Only by accepting the Gospel, can you be Saved from your sin.  You must admit that you have sinned against God.  You must repent - turning away from your sin to the Saving God, Jesus.  Then ask Jesus to forgive your sins.  Then accept the free gift of Salvation that God offers.  If you try to earn it, then you haven't understood the free gift that God offers through the sacrifice of His Son.  

If you try to earn it, you've rejected what Jesus did at the Cross.  You reject God's provision because you're trying to prove to God that you can be good enough or do something good enough to earn it - God says that's impossible.  This is opposite of what the Catholic Church teaches.  So, consider the Apostle Paul, who at first hunted down and persecuted the Christians.  He was deceived then saw the Truth.  Be like the Apostle Paul, see the Truth... accept God's love... accept His gift.

 

So what do we say about these children that have been abused? A question similar to that was asked of Jesus about a man who was crippled from birth... was it he that sinned or his parents?  Jesus answered, "It was neither that this man sinned, nor his parents ; but it was so that the works of God might be displayed in him." John 9:3  Prayerfully, most of these have come to a Saving relationship with Jesus - for all eternity living with the Savior where this is perfect love - there is nothing greater.  Nothing.

What about these priests?  What price will they pay?  As terrible as these sins are, we have all sinned.  Any sin will separate us from God and we all need a Savior.  We all need forgiveness but it must be the kind that only God can give.  So these priests will pay a terrible price unless they accept the free gift that God offers.  Yes.  It is beyond understanding but forgiveness is available to anyone who puts their trust in Jesus as their Savior.