If it takes a village to raise a child, it takes a village to abuse one.
Michael's point in this statement is that it would be extremely difficult for one priest to abuse a child in isolation, and to withstand the probably legal action that the child would take against him as an adult. In order for priests to continue to abuse one child, then another, then another. they need to be shielded and supported by the church as a whole. Turning a blind eye is the church's default action when it comes to pedophile priests, and so Michael is making the point that it is not just the abuser priest who is to blame for the widespread pedophilia in the church, it is the entire hierarchy of church authorities.
They knew and they let it happen!
Mike is understandably filled with rage. The natural reaction of anyone learning that a child is being abused should be to report the abuser and do everything that they can do to make the abuse stop. Cardinal Law didn't do this. Despite having been given proof that the abuse was going on, he chose to turn a blind eye, and it is impossible to believe that his eyes were the only ones being turned away. The church should have led by example but instead they let evil flourish by doing nothing.
We gotta show people that no one can get away with this! Not a priest, or a cardinal, or a freakin' Pope!
There is a tendency within the Catholic church to see the Pope as an adjunct of God. The Pope is above all human laws because the laws that he answers to are God's, and for this reason, most authority figures within the church are largely unpoliced or are seldom held accountable in the same way that the rest of us are. Mike wants to put a stop to this. He wants the priesthood held as accountable as the general public. It is never acceptable to allow the abuse of a child. It is never acceptable to be the perpetrator of it. There are some things that are never excusable even if the perpetrator is the highest ranking member of the church. Mike believes that there is some denial of this fact within the church and he is determined to change their minds.
