This Politics Daily story, “Vatican Rules Ordaining Women Priests a Crime Like Sex Abuse of Children,” from my friend David Gibson, author of a thoughtful biography on Pope Benedict, and himself a Catholic, left me speechless.  If anyone has a doubt as to why atheism is on the rise, they need look no further than this recent ruling from the Vatican equating the crime of sex abuse to the “crime” of ordaining women as priests.

Gibson quotes U.S. Catholic editor Bryan Cones as saying, “Quite frankly, it is an outrage to pair the two, a complete injustice to connect the aspirations of some women among the baptized to ordained ministry with what are some of the worst crimes that can be committed against the least of Christ’s members.”

I couldn’t agree more.