Let's see what the Central Committee does in response.

The answer to the question posed in the link is almost certainly yes.

According to this report, the Church in Italy has steadfastly refused to provide an accounting of the rape of children by clerics. And the Vatican, as the head of the Church in Italy, has been part and parcel of this refusal.

Some of the rape victims are having none of it:

The Vatican has long resisted calls to investigate the church in Italy, according to Francesco Zanardi, a vocal survivor from the northern town of Savona, who runs the support group Rete L’Abuso or Abuse Network. He has launched a social media campaign called #ItalyChurchToo. He has likened the Vatican’s ability to silence accusations against Italian priests to the mafia’s use of the omerta or code of silence.

Zanardi sends out a daily newsletter publishing credible accusations of abuse and news when pedophile priests are brought to justice—which is rare in Italy, in part because of what Zanardi calls “interference” by the Catholic Church in the Italian judicial system. He says crucifixes hang in all Italian courtrooms not as a show of faith but “as a threat and reminder that the Church is more powerful than even God.”

On Friday, he will launch a database with the media group Left, that will list convicted Italian priests, criminal cases, and victims’ accounts of abuse. It will be the first such public account in the country, and he says they will start with more than 350 proven cases of abuse by priests, but that there are “hundreds and hundreds of victims” who are too afraid to come forward because of the church's influence in the country. “In the absence of action by the State and the Church, the time has come for a turning point,” he says. “We will be the 'Trojan horse’ in a system that sees institutions defenseless with respect to the problem of pedophile priests.”

The Vatican did not immediately respond to a request for comment.

 The mafia comparison is fair. And not just in Italy.

The Vatican has a chance to do the right thing here. But when it comes to predatory clerics, doing the right thing is never, ever the first option.

Appeasers gonna appease.

First, the good: Boston Celtics center Enes Canter takes a stand on Tibet. 

It should also be noted that the Turkish native cannot return to his homeland because of his fierce and well-supported criticisms of the tyrant there.

So, yes--he's the real deal.

Xitler's Reich responded as expected, yanking Celtics games from broadcast.

Which brings me to the bad: the best case scenario is a tepid defense of Canter. But more likely, you'll see anger from those who always take yuan--no matter how much blood you have to wring out of the bills.

Speaking of such: the bowing and scraping sell-out collared practitioners of neo-Ostpolitik (a failure, no matter what the red-friendly apologists try to say) are floating trial balloons about abandoning Taiwan.

Because of course they are. 

Makes me wonder how many yuan are cycling through Vatican City at the moment.

No doubt some sold themselves too cheaply, not understanding the market.

And let me end on a final grim note:

If you don't have a "Guns of August" square on your 2020s Apocalyptic Bingo Card, get one that has it. It's just about a certainty to happen.