No Church has a right to be its own law and above the law of the land, in my view, as a practicing Catholic who is ashamed that the Catholic Church has been allowed to become too powerful and has been able to charm or in other ways manipulate judges, lawyers, police, politicians, and even parents to protect them from accountability to civil and criminal law when they abuse their position and cover up for the predators in their ranks who sexually abuse / rape children and vulnerable adults around the world. This has to change. Popes and bishops have chosen to ignore Jesus' command to protect the innocence of children for too many years already, in my view. Maybe it is because they do not listen to the Jesus of the Gospels, but rather choose to follow man-made church rules and their own desire for power over others, rather than service to others. All churches, including popes must be subject to our civil and criminal laws, in my view.
Sincerely,   Dr Rosemary Eileen McHugh, MD, MSpir