What was the Original Sin of the Catholic Church?

The original sin of the Catholic Church was invoking the principle of priestly celibacy at the Council of Elvira (circa 305) and the Council of Carthage (390).

Besides causing severe problems for its troops, the priests, the Church set up a dichotomy of perspective about sex. On the one hand, sex is considered as bad if it takes place outside marriage. By extension, this can lead to the conclusion that sex is bad per se. On the other hand sex conducted through marriage leads to the fulfillment of the sacred duty of procreation.

Some of the priests, thwarted in their natural desires, turned to a nearby and vulnerable prey, young boys, who were serving within the church, leaving behind a trail of troubled and often damaged psyches.

On February 28, a courageous film, "Spotlight", surprisingly won the Academy Award's Oscar as the best film of 2015 — courageous because of the power of the Catholic Church in its ultimately futile attempt to hide the pederasty of 97 (count 'em) priests in the Boston diocese. The Church's attempt was in vain thanks to a phalanx of reporters and editors at the Boston Globe. The alleged leader of the cover-up, Cardinal Bernard Law, escaped sanction and was shipped off to a sinecure post in Rome.

Make no mistake about it: the effect of priestly abuse of young boys is a horrible scandal, from which the Catholic Church will be extremely hard pressed to recover.