No, you are the one who hasn’t been paying attention. It was Ratzinger — even before he became pope — who battled obstructionists for years before he finally secured enhanced authority to discipline abusers being protected on the local level. Francis is merely instructing the CDF to carry on with Benedicts’s reforms, while Fox is pretending Benedict was the problem and the new guy is riding to the rescue.
Don’t get suckered by the msm — they are deeply ignorant of religious affairs and are hostile to the subject as a rule.
You are kidding, right? Before Ratzinger became Pope, I read a quote from him where he stated that he thought that the sex abuse scandal in the US was “overblown” in the media. What exactly did he do besides give lip service about the priests? He went on a big tour saying he was “sorry” but didn’t really punish the priests, or the Bishops & Cardinals that covered it up. Words mean nothing.....
It is very sad that they haven’t addressed this before, if Ratzinger really did punish those that protected the priests, why did the Archbishop in Los Angelos get to stay a priest in good standing? And in Boston, there were many priests, principals, etc. that had solid evidence against them and the church didn’t take them from their duties until the courts MADE them. I really truly wish you were right about this, but I don’t see any case where Ratzinger made a postive change in actions, not words.
I know people that have been molested by priests and this is a very personal issue to me. It upsets me that “the hammer” hasn’t come down earlier. So many people have left the church because of their disgust in children being put in harms way.