Please , Please, Please, All they had to do is get out the word, they chose to stay quiet both Ratzinger and Pope John Paul II, They chose poorly!
Nothing is more important than the spiritual life of little Children, Christ himself said so, remember the millstone story.
See what happened to Ftr. Thomas Doyle for speaking out he was ostracised within the Catholic Hierarchy, as opposed to card Law who was rewarded, for allowing the abuse of children by over 200 Priests, to be kept quiet.
Sadly it took the Boston Globe and The Herald to bring out the Horror.
I vehemently agree.
"All they had to do is get out the word, they chose to stay quiet both Ratzinger and Pope John Paul II, They chose poorly!"
"Get out the word?" Without the specifics, what good would that do? It would just be a libel on priests in general. The people with the specifics were the bishops. More than half of them shielded abusers and discreetly paid off victims, instead of bringing criminal charges against known offenders. That was the really sickening part.
Pope John Paul II came out of the era when the bishops of Poland, individually and as national conference, showed themselves fully competent to resist the Communists. I think he expected strong bishops as a matter of course. He almost "couldn't believe it" when bishops were cowardly, devious, and negligent.
Entrusting the enforcement to the bishops, and giving them almost unlimited time and leeway to "do the right thing," was a major ongoing weakness in John Paul's otherwise brilliant pontificate. But that doesn't deprive him or his successor of the right to be called "Holy Father" --- and Holy Father Benedict is in the process of naming replacements for bishops.
That's why I say "We shall see." And that's why I say, "Pray for him."