O_O

An interesting book to read is "The Case of the Pope" which looks at it from a legal perspective. It deals with how the Catholic church has attempted to keep it quiet, how confession and instant forgiveness has created a culture that can nurture priests that bugger boys and whether the Vatican is actually a state when any of the nominal international law standards that deal with the definition of a state are applied to it (the answer seems to be no, although the realpolitik is of course a yes since if every government thinks its a state then it is).

Its worth a read. Its written by Geoffrey Robertson.

If the Catholic Church covers up and supports criminal activity, doesn't that make it a criminal organisation?

Do as I say. Not as I do.

OK, so I won't make weird sexually-themed texts, but instead I will stalk women, and secretly stare at naked guys in the locker room while they're not looking.

(or were you talking about the Catholic Church?)

and? 'He was a hypocrite who condemned the West for certain behaviours which he deemed to be wrong, while engaging in those behaviours himself. This is like catching the Pope jacking off/doing a nun/doing an altar boy'

He kinda said it in his first post SSj, stop sticking up for osama!

Which is why the book looks at its status as a country. The Vatican officials have diplomatic immunity currently. There have been some cases (documented in the book), where Vatican officials have been given incriminating documents from members of a local catholic church before the secular authorities can get their hands on the documents. Once that happens the authorities cannot take the documents because the officials claim diplomatic immunity and the documents are sent back to the Vatican.

So in my opinion they certainly are, however whilst they are considered a state they get immunity, whether we like it or not. Though of course the individual churches etc can and do get taken to court all the time. So the Vatican certainly has been financially hit.

Meh, sounds more like a sham state to me. Such an activity should make it qualify as a terrorist state or something.