Conclave!

It's new pope time. All the Cardinals of the Roman Catholic church are locked away in the Sistene Chapel to choose a new pope.

This can sometimes last days. But they probably have better pictures than a flat screen TV - http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/File:Creaci%C3%B3n_de_Ad%C3%A1n_(Miguel_%C3%81ngel).jpg

Something has happened to the church in general in the past few decades.

They have been screwing kids.

I think, in fairness, this has been done by people in power for ever. There are a certain percentage of people that have this tendency to paedophilia.  People in power get the opportunity to indulge it.

So all the exposure we see of priests from various churches tells us something. I think it is not about paedophilia. I think politicians, journalists and police will be no more or less prone to paedophilia than priests are and were. I think it is about power.

Back in the 60s, the 70s and the 80s priests were in a position of massive power relative to their flocks. That power has now dissipated, as evidenced by the ability of victims to bring their abusers to justice.

Don't misunderstand me, some of the things the church hierarchy did to hide the wrongdoing were despicable. The way they moved abusers around giving them access to more and more victims. One can only hope that the primary motivator was shame for the Church.

Nevertheless, as the Cardinals now gather to appoint a new leader, I think we can say for sure that it is a diminished role in a diminished organisation.

Some will see this as a good thing, that the unaccountable power wielded by clerics over the centuries is now largely passed. In some countries, where the power of the church has been great indeed, doubtless this is so.

For me, I accept this as the way of things. I would even go so far as to say I support this social change. However, there lies in me some pang of nostalgic regret for a time when Western culture could be described as Christian in its foundation. The new found accountability for Priests of the church tell me that time is passed.

This conclave is, in truth, pretty irrelevant.