This piece of news reminds me of the discussion. Unlike other beliefs, religions occupy a special place in the legal system. I don’t believe the Belgium police’s power to investigate the scandals should be curbed by canon law as the Pontiff said, but there is no denying that Western legal systems were heavily influenced by religions. Even today, regardless of whether textually speaking religions are entitled to more protection than other beliefs under the First Amendment or not, practically religions are treated differently from other beliefs. It is Thomas von Aquin that is discussed in jurisprudence classes, not aliens or ghosts.

I think there are two questions worth asking: firstly, since the laws today are no longer sacred in any sense, why does religion still occupy a special place? In this regard, I tend to agree with Jessica: it is promulgated by institutions composed of a lot of people. Just like what we see in the Belgium incident, when a person that is purported to be the spiritual leader of more than 1 billion people criticizes you, you have to beware. What’s more, this institution has clouts in many aspects, politically, economically, etc. Once in a while, there would be people challenging the authority of the institution. Napoleon held the Pope prisoner for five years, and Mazzini drove the Pope out of Rome. However, no one actually succeeded and the Pope is still considered a world leader today. This authority leads to the general assumption that religions should be treated differently. The Pope’s response to the Belgium raid seems to be a natural reaction under this assumption.

As to the second question, namely the soundness of it, I don’t have an answer here. In some cases, a special treatment may be necessary considering the passion and irrationality incited by religions. This may be a good example. However, in the sexual abuse cases, I don’t know how the Pope can be justified in saying that “such serious issues should be attended to by both civil and canon law.” What is so special about a cleric harassing little boys? In my opinion, the special treatment given to religions based on the nature of affairs involved might be acceptable, but a general immunity simply because of the status is not. If such a general immunity is granted, it will become another type of sovereign immunity. For sovereign immunity, we can still expect the judicial system of another country to take action. I really don’t have much confidence in the Church’s internal investigation or punishment.

-- WenweiLai - 29 Jun 2010