[St.Chuck]

What has he done besides wave his stick at you at a youth rally?

Hee, hee. You might find it completely incredible, but sometimes, all it takes is waving a stick. The criteria demanded by the apostle Thomas was not necessary to the other apostles. I know the pope has not measured up to your personal expectations, but I'd venture to guess that most Catholics don't share your severe judgementalism. In fact, rare is the Catholic that shares your encyclopedic knowlege of church history and theology. My guess is that most Catholics want to serve God through His Church via the sacraments and don't feel the need to critique the pope's every action or phantom inaction. For a Catholic the "stick" speaks for itself.

If you sincerely feel that there is a void concerning the treatment of sexual abuse victims, I humbly suggest that you take up the cause.

[ultima ratio]

"You might find it completely incredible, but sometimes, all it takes is waving a stick."

Your response says it all. You--and others who think like you, including Vatican functionaries--think because the Pope is accessible to the young as a celebrity, this is somehow sufficient to make up for a woeful worldwide poverty of catechesis. It isn't. There is need for this Pontiff to address the failures on the diocesan level--and by extension, on the level of the local parish. If he can't or won't impose discipline, he is himself a failure--no matter how accessible he is personally.