While I agree that the perpetrators themselves should be charged with the criminal offense, the charge of harboring a noted sex offender should be applied to the church because that's exactly what they are doing. They are not declaring one priest or another to be a sex offender. In some cases the same person is teaching other students in classrooms, which is really not right. Ratzinger wrote letters recommending hiding information from police and threatening termination of the position (excommunication) of telling the stories to authorities. These are indeed civil crimes that should be tried.
Should the pope, whoever that may be, be blamed for the crimes of priests in US? No. If, however, the pope, who oversees the employees of its company does not fire someone for those criminal offenses, or even worse hide information and tell subordinates to hide information from the authorities, then the organization should be tried.
Where does the funding for this settlements and suits come from in the Catholic church? From the diocese's funding? From the central Vatican bank? Their funding pyramid would specify more clearly how organized the company of the Catholic church is structured.
