I think you're missing my point. I'm not going after hospitals because of their prices or their costs. I specially mentioned board salaries; not doctors, nurses, or the janitor. I also mentioned the finances, where does your money go, if it's getting sent to a variety of trusts and investments they aren't providing services with that money and the potential for hinky ness increases. Those cost issues need to be addressed separately.

But to the Catholic Church discussion. It is not the world's biggest land owner although considering it is the religion of some 1.2 billion people 77 million acres isn't all that surprising. The Catholic Church provides between 17-34% of all charitable activity in the United States. Finally, Catholic owned hospitals take in roughly $240 billion in revenue every year

While the Catholic Church did let's say it - fuck up majorly with the child abuse scandals they are by no means the only entity to do similar. Other churches, sports franchises, schools, and more have covered up and excused their members from the abuse. The only difference is the Catholic Church happens to be one of the largest organizations in the world and so the numbers go up and the ability to move people does as well. Let's also not discount the fact that "the improper touching of a child" wasn't actually a crime in many states until the 80's and 90's. Rape was often the only sexual offense statute and required force and carnal knowledge (vaginal). There was a culture of denial that everyone just played along with.