Imagine if any politician, academic leader or CEO found themselves in this situation. Dozens, if not hundreds, of shocking child rape and abuse cases are uncovered in their organization - charges so widespread that the leaders of at least a few major countries call for an investigation.
A few of the allegations involve people with close ties to this leader. One is a direct subordinate who, years ago, was convicted of brutally drugging, beating and raping a child, but was never fired, and in fact was allowed to stay on and even continue to work with children. Even this leader's own brother is identified as head of a division of the organization where violent sexual abuse was rampant, and, in a shocking statement, openly admits to physically abusing children himself.
Most damning of all, this leader is found to have been at the center of covering up the crimes. Under the guise of "investigating" the allegations, it is revealed that they instead sent letters to each of their subordinates - letters implying that they should not contact the authorities about these incidents, or risk being fired. Instead, they invented a policy whereby allegations would be handled "in the most secretive way" by the organization itself - which then failed to act on any of them. Showing total disregard for democratically made law in countries around the world, this leader unilaterally deemed that any allegations regarding his organization would not only not be reported, they would be subject to a "statute of limitations" whereby they were no longer actionable ten years after the victim turned 18.
Instead, people found guilty of abuse or covering up abuse were sheltered, and some of the worst perpetrators remain under his protection to this day. And, in perhaps the clearest sign of this leader's brazenness, the order enabling this flaunting of the law isn't even hidden - instead, it's posted on the organization's website.
It's a silly question, of course, because if any politician found themselves in such a situation, they'd immediately be ousted from office under a cloud of shame. If any CEO was found guilty of anything remotely as bad, he or she would be voted out in days, and the company's brand most likely damaged beyond recovery. If a small breakaway religious sect, such as a group of Mormon traditionalists, engaged in this sort of behavior, chances are the government would storm their headquarters and haul their leader off to court.
You can also guarantee that the American media, which loves a scandal and especially a sex scandal, would blanket the airwaves with 24-hour coverage of the incident, just as they did with Bill Clinton, Eliot Spitzer, Mark Sanford, Larry Craig and Tiger Woods. But there's been strangely little mention of these stunning allegations regarding Joseph Ratzinger, and the Catholic Church at large - scanning the headlines today, you'd be forgiven for thinking the media spent far more time reporting on the Balloon Boy, or, more to the point, a relatively obscure Democratic Congressman, than it has on the leader of one of the largest, most influential organizations in the world.
Even as more and more shocking stories come to light, including today's disgusting revelation that at least one priest was actually videotaped having sex with an altar boy, the American press relegates this story to second or third tier coverage. And no one that I've read, other than atheist pundit Christopher Hitchens has stated what should be as clear as day - that Ratzinger not only participated in the coverup, he ordered members of the Church to break the law in dozens of countries around the world when he ordered them to stay silent over allegations that clearly should have been reported.
Religion at large, and the media, might not be able to judge this crisis fairly, but rationally-minded individuals should have no trouble doing so. It's time for "The Pope" to step down, and for anyone who has bought into this sad charade to step up and state the simple truth - he's just a man, and a badly flawed one at that.