it's not hard to see that the catholic church is one of the least responsive and accountable institutions in the history of the world. this has something to do with its size, its bureaucratic structure, and the idea that the church is accountable only to god, or perhaps that its actions are invariably authorized by god, even when they are brutal crimes. at any rate there was an extraordinarily disturbing story on npr this morning about the trials of priests who allegedly participated in the rwandan genocide, including one who apparently had his own church bulldozed with 2000 living tutsis inside. before being apprehended, he was quietly living and giving masses under an assumed name in, um, rome. despite the fact that several priests have actually been found guilty of crimes against humanity in the rwandan genocide, the country's archbishop is quoted as simply flatly denying that any priest participated in any way. evil idiocy. of course this makes you think of the church's decades-long refusal to come to grips with its history of extreme anti-semitism. or the decades-long concealment of child abusers in the priesthood, etc. look. no group as big as the catholic hierarchy is entirely good, and for example in rwanda many priests were killed, often for helping tutsis. but the inyourface lying and coverups profoundly discredit the church as a moral authority on anything. among other things, they betray almost psychotic self-righteousness and deep cowardice.