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On Christmas The "Love Story Between God and Man Passes by Way of the Manger of Bethlehem" VATICAN CITY, DEC. 21, 2011 (Zenit.org).- Here is a translation of the Italian-language catechesis Benedict XVI gave today during the general audience held in Paul VI Hall. The Pope reflected on the approaching feast of Christmas. * * * Dear brothers and sisters, I am pleased to receive you in this general audience, just days before the celebration of the Lord's birth. During these days, the greeting on everyone's lips is "Merry Christmas! Season's Greetings!" Let us ensure that, even in today's society,...

People who have spent time with him recently say they found him weaker than they'd ever seen him, seemingly too tired to engage with what they were saying. He no longer meets individually with visiting bishops. A few weeks ago he started using a moving platform to spare him the long walk down St. Peter's Basilica.

Vatican City, Nov 21, 2011 / 05:55 pm (CNA/EWTN News).- Pope Benedict accepted the resignation of Cardinal Bernard Law, former Archbishop of Boston, and appointed Spanish Archbishop Santos Abril y Castelló as the new archpriest of the Basilica of St. Mary Major. Cardinal Law, who resigned in 2002 as Archbishop of Boston in the wake of the sex abuse scandal, turned 80 on Nov. 4.A Vatican official explained to CNA on Nov. 21 that although the official retirement age for a post such as archpriest is 80, it is customary for cardinals to hold their positions for a longer period of time....

Fr. Federico Lombardi Vatican City, Nov 17, 2011 / 12:06 pm (CNA/EWTN News).- The Vatican will take legal action against Italian clothing company Benetton to prevent the circulation of an ad featuring Pope Benedict XVI kissing a Muslim imam. The move on Nov. 17 comes a day after Benetton hastily withdrew the image from a new advertising campaign following protests from both religions.   “The Secretariat of State has authorized its lawyers to initiate actions, in Italy and elsewhere, to prevent the circulation, via the mass media and in other ways, of a photomontage used in a Benetton advertising campaign...

Benedict XVI recently visited again his native Germany, but this time with a different agenda. Five years later, the Vatican adopted a pro-Islam course and has capitulated to fundamentalists. In a recent book written by German journalist Peter Sewald, Pope Ratzinger expressed “regrets” about the Regensburg lecture. The Vatican’s Secretary of State, Tarcisio Bertone, buried the Pope's lesson about Islam as “an archaeological relic.” “The default positions vis-à-vis militant Islam are now unhappily reminiscent of Vatican diplomacy’s default positions vis-à-vis communism during the last 25 years of the Cold War,” writes George Weigel, a leading US writer about the Vatican....

There is one front page news story that will certainly not go unnoticed: that is, that the Pope is thinking about resigning during the Spring of 2012. Journalist Antonio Socci has confirmed the same in the Italian daily, Libero.  "For now,” Socci writes, “he is saying that this may be true (Joseph Ratzinger’s personal assumption), but I hope the story does not reach the news. But this rumor is circulating high up in the Vatican and therefore deserves close attention. The Pope has not rejected the possibility of his resignation when he turns 85 in April next year.”  Socci recalls...

<p>SINEAD O'Connor sparked widespread anger today after suggesting she would shoot the Pope.</p>

In his address before the German parliament, Benedict XVI offers ways to renew politics and social life for the world. Positivism is limiting because it marginalises the ethics and culture of politics and society. Berlin (AsiaNews) – “A German pope in the German capital” is the greeting that welcomed Pope Benedict XVI in his first state visit to his native land (the third of his pontificate). The visit began this morning in Berlin and will continue until Sunday, bringing the Pontiff to Erfurt and Freiburg. However, in his addresses the German pope speaks to the entire world and what he...

Mr President of the Federal Republic, Mr President of the Bundestag,Madam Chancellor, Mr President of the Bundesrat,Ladies and Gentlemen Members of the House, It is an honour and a joy for me to speak before this distinguished house, before the Parliament of my native Germany, that meets here as a democratically elected representation of the people, in order to work for the good of the Federal Republic of Germany. I should like to thank the President of the Bundestag both for his invitation to deliver this address and for the kind words of greeting and appreciation with which he has...

Mr President of the Federal Republic, Mr President of the Bundestag, Madam Chancellor, Mr President of the Bundesrat, Ladies and Gentlemen Members of the House, It is an honour and a joy for me to speak before this distinguished house, before the Parliament of my native Germany, that meets here as a democratically elected representation of the people, in order to work for the good of the Federal Republic of Germany. I should like to thank the President of the Bundestag both for his invitation to deliver this address and for the kind words of greeting and appreciation with which...

Thursday September 22 Address Federal Parliament Pope Benedict XVI will deliver an address to the Federal Parliament from the Reichstag Building in Berlin. 10:15 AM ET & 5:30 PM ET Mass in Berlin's Olympic Stadium The Holy Father will celebrate Mass in Berlin's Olympic Stadium, which was built for the 1936 Olympic Games. 12:30 PM ET & Fri. September 23 at 12 AM Friday September 23 Ecumenical Celebration Ecumenical Celebration in the church of the Augustinian Convent, presided over by the Holy Father. 6:30 AM ET & 10 PM ET Marian Vespers Pope Benedict XVI departs Erfurst, arriving in Etzelsbachand...

VATICAN CITY, 14 SEP 2011 (VIS) - At midday today the Holy See Press Office released the following communique concerning the postion of the Society of St. Pius X: "On 14 September at the offices of the Congregation for the Doctrine of the Faith, Cardinal William Joseph Levada, prefect of the congregation and president of the Pontifical Commission 'Ecclesia Dei'; Archbishop Luis Francisco Ladaria Ferrer S.J., secretary of the congregation, and Msgr. Guido Pozzo, secretary of the pontifical commission, met with Bishop Bernard Fellay, superior general of the Society of St. Pius X, who was accompanied by Fr. Niklaus Pfluger...

Fellay Before a key meeting in Rome, the leader of the traditionalists stressed that he was not prepared to make any compromises and also revealed some interesting behind the scenes happenings… “If their aim is still to force us to accept the second Vatican Council, the discussions have been clear enough in showing that we have no intention of  doing any such thing.”  These were the decisive but prudent words of Bernard Fellay, who was adamant he would not agree to any compromise with the Vatican. On the 15 August, Fellay spoke openly about the talks between the Lefebvrians...

It was the first great ecclesial event of this 26th WYD to take place in the presence of Pope Benedict XVI, and it was the very essence of Spanish devotion. The world had come to Madrid and Madrid brought the Iberian Holy Week and in particular, their Way of the Cross, to the world stage. Fraternities, ancient guilds of artisans, custodians of Stations had carried the precious statues from all four corners of the nation to Madrid’s Cibeles square. The station from Malaga leaving the city boundaries for the first time in its centuries old history.The sun was still high,...

At today's weekly general audience the Holy Father received a new tiara made for him and presented by Catholic and Orthodox Christians. The tiara was commissioned by Dieter Philippi (http://www.dieter-philippi.de/), a German Catholic businessman who has a great devotion to the papacy as well as to the call to Christian unity. The tiara was created in Sofia, Bulgaria by Orthodox Christians of the Liturgix studio (http://www.liturgix.com/). Today a small delegation of Roman Catholics and Bulgarian Orthodox on pilgrimage in Rome had the honor to present the tiara to the Holy Father in the name of Christian unity. Congratulations to...

Pope Benedict XVI / Photo Credit Mazur Vatican City, May 13, 2011 / 10:55 am (CNA/EWTN News).- Local dioceses should give a “generous welcome” to any laity who wish to attend Mass in the “extraordinary form” and to priests who wish to say it.  That’s the key message of new Vatican guidelines regarding the extraordinary form of the Mass – often popularly referred to as the “Tridentine Mass” or “old Latin Mass.” The “extraordinary form” is the rite of Mass contained within the Roman Missal which was universally used from 1570 to 1962. It was almost always celebrated in...

VATICAN CITY (Catholic Online) - April 19, 2011 marked the sixth anniversary of the election of Joseph Cardinal Ratzinger to the Chair of Peter. He took the name Benedict XVI. In an interview with the Catholic News Agency Raymond Cardinal Burke spoke of the "profound goodness" of this Pope. He called this pontificate one of "great dynamism" and "intense evangelization". The Cardinal continued, "I think the Holy Father has shown he has many outstanding qualities not least his ability to teach very profound things in a very accessible way. Whether that's through his visits, his Wednesday audiences or his many...

POPE ADDRESSES 5 DISPUTED QUESTIONS IN NEW BOOK Cardinal Ouellet Presents Pontiff's "Jesus of Nazareth" VATICAN CITY, MARCH 11, 2011 (Zenit.org).- In his new book, Benedict XVI clarifies five disputed questions on the life of Christ that still spark heated debates among theologians and others, noted Cardinal Marc Ouellet. The prefect of the Congregation for Bishops and relator of the 2008 Synod of Bishops on the Word of God made this observation Thursday in the Vatican press office when he presented the Pope's book, "Jesus of Nazareth Part II: Holy Week -- From the Entrance into Jerusalem to the Resurrection."...

Volume 1 "The Kingship Proclaimed by Jesus Â… Is None Other Than the Kingship of Truth" ROME, MARCH 2, 2010 (Zenit.org).- Here is an excerpt from Benedict XVI's book "Jesus of Nazareth: Holy Week," which is scheduled to be released worldwide March 10. The excerpt comes from Chapter 7, Section 3, titled "Jesus Before Pilate." Ignatius Press is the publisher of the volume in English. * * * In addition to the clear delimitation of his concept of kingdom (no fighting, earthly powerlessness), Jesus had introduced a positive idea, in order to explain the nature and particular character of...

From Robert Moynihan's most recent "Inside the Vatican" newsflash:Will the Vatican soon issue a document calling for some restrictions on the use of the old rite of the Mass? The internet, especially in traditional Catholic circles, is abuzz with reports that this may be about to happen. But for the moment, these reports are based only on rumors. Officially, no one yet knows the content of the upcoming Vatican Instruction to give guidelines for the implementation of Summorum Pontificum -- the dramatic and controversial July 7, 2007 papal motu proprio in which Benedict XVI, after long hesitation, granted wider use of the old,...

A rather unexpected voice just joined the chorus of the liberal media outcry over sex scandals among some Catholic clergymen: none other than Evo Morales, Bolivia’s socialist and neopagan president. A Neopagan Socialist... Indeed, Mr. Morales, leader of the Movement to Socialism, figured he should teach the Pope how things in the Church ought to be run. For those who may not know, he was inaugurated President of Bolivia in 2006 using indigenous pagan rituals.1 The Bolivian newspaper Los Tiempos, of Cochabamba (6/20/2006), described the ceremony: “Evo Morales assumed political power with a spectacular display of religious rituals alluding to...

  Pakistani Religious leaders hold banners and chant slogans during a protest against Pope Benedict XVI’s recent statements about Pakistan’s blasphemy laws in Lahore, Pakistan, Wednesday, Jan. 12, 2011. Pope Benedict XVI urged Pakistan to reverse its blasphemy laws, saying Monday they were a pretext for violence against non-Muslims, and demanded that all governments do more so Christians can practice their faith without fear. This is what Pope Benedict said about Pakistan in his 2011 State of the World speech last weekend: Among the norms prejudicing the right of persons to religious freedom, particular mention must be made of the...

Kevin McKenna’s  review of 2010 in The Observer newspaper includes his assessment of Richard Dawkins behaviour during Pope Benedict’s visit to the UK:‘ The Pope’s visit was great but tinged with sadness because it reduced that once-great biologist Richard Dawkins to a rambling and wild-eyed madman hurling foam-flecked adolescent insults at the Roman holy man. I trust someone is giving the scientist his soup and caramelised biscuits as he recuperates. I even hear of a Richard Dawkins care fund. Could someone forward me the address?’Protect the Pope comment: Couldn’t agree more! It was a relief that the BBC cut away from...

Is Anyone Listening To Peter? A new Dark Age on the horizon?Catholics, Protestants, Agnostics… the vast majority of conservatives of every stripe would agree with this almost non-reported speech made by Pope Benedict XVI on 20 December, 2010.In a speech to Papal representatives from all over the world, the Pope spoke in the context of a the near total collapse in the Western world of any moral consensus rooted in Christian ethics and heritage.In comments aimed directly at the secularization and abandonment of God by the West, Benedict stunned those in a attendance when he stated; “Alexis de Tocqueville, in...

Some interpretations have presented the words of the Pope as a contradiction of the traditional moral teaching of the Church. This hypothesis has been welcomed by some as a positive change and lamented by others as a cause of concern – as if his statements represented a break with the doctrine concerning contraception and with the Church’s stance in the fight against AIDS. In reality, the words of the Pope – which specifically concern a gravely disordered type of human behaviour, namely prostitution (cf. Light of the World, pp. 117-119) – do not signify a change in Catholic moral teaching...

Immaculate Mary: "Trust Jesus, he will save you" December 08, 2010Pope Benedict XVI marked the Solemnity of the Immaculate Conception of the Blessed Virgin Mary by reciting the Angelus in St. Peter’s Square and by reminding us Mary's immaculate heart tells you to trust Jesus, who will save you. The Holy Father said the mystery of the dogma proclaimed by Pius IX in 1854, is "a source of inner light, of hope and comfort" . In the midst of life's trials and contradictions, which man experiences within himself and around him, Mary, Mother of Christ, tells us that grace is...

Now that I’ve got your attention, please buy a copy of the new book Light of the World, an interview of B16 by Peter Seewald, and find out for yourself. In addition to the question of condoms, you’ll also find that Benedict is an incredibly interesting and deep leader. So, here’s the scoop. L’Osservatore Romano, the Vatican newspaper (where I once worked), broke the embargo on the book and published some excerpts. Of course, if there’s something to do with sex and anything Catholic, you can be sure that it will get attention.In a detailed section on the question of...

Concering this report from the AP regarding remarks from Pope Benedict XVI on condom use, everyone is expecting clarifications. We can be pretty certain of that, but in the meantime, I’ll offer one.The key phrase that explains everything that will go right over the vast majority of people’s heads? �Re-develop the understanding�.From the AFP [emphasis mine]: Benedict offered the example of a male prostitute using a condom. “There may be justified individual cases, for example when a male prostitute uses a condom, where this can be … a first bit of responsibility, to re-develop the understanding that not everything is...

Wednesday, 17, November 2010, General Audience Pope Benedict XVI You can imagine my joy upon reading the Holy Father's latest catechesis, and his allusion to the "Eucharistic springtime" in the Church. Our little Monastery of Our Lady of the Cenacle joins the practice of daily adoration of the Most Blessed Sacrament to a traditional Benedictine observance. Our watches of adoration before the Eucharistic Face of Jesus are offered for priests: for their sanctification and their deliverance from evil, and in reparation for the many sins that have disfigured the Face of Christ the Priest. The Holy Father's teaching speaks to...

BAGHDAD, Iraq (Catholic Online) - Catholics, other Christians, other people of faith and people of good throughout the world continue to mourn and reflect upon the brutal killing of Catholics at Holy Mass in Baghdad last Sunday. However, those associated with the Muslim extremists who perpetrated the evil act continue to spew their hateful and violent rhetoric. We are committed to updating our global readers on the unfolding danger that these threats portend against Catholics and other Christians. Serious times demand a serious response. Asia News has provided excellent coverage of the massacre and its aftermath. On November 3, they...

Croatia's Cardinal Josip Bozanić has announced that Benedict XVI will make a trip to Croatia in 2011. This will be his first time to the country as Pope. Vatican Radio cited Croatia's Catholic news agency IKA , which reported that the announcement came after a meeting between Croatia's president Ivo Josipovic and Cardinal Bozanic, the current archbishop of Zagreb. A commission to decide on the particulars of the trip will be comprised of Church and State officials, the president told IKA. One detail of the schedule is already known: the Pope will pray at the tomb of Blessed Aloysius Stepinac,...

Millions of dead Christians later.....finally, real "dialogue." Now, duck! Vatican: Koran encourages 'killing Christians' AKI Vatican City, 22 Oct. (AKI) - The Koran is a text that encourages Islam to impose itself with force and permits the killing of Christians, said Lebanon's Catholic Patriarch of Antioch Archbishop Raboula Beylouni, addressing a Vatican meeting of Middle East bishops. "The Koran gives Muslims the right to judge Christians and kill them with Jihad," he said. "It gives orders to impose religion with force, with the sword. For this reason, Muslims don't recognise the freedom of religion among themselves or others." Pope Benedict...

Friday October 1, 2010 Pope Calls for Worldwide Vigil for All Nascent Human Life October 1, 2010 (LifeSiteNews.com) - On Saturday, November 27th at St. Peter’s Basilica, Pope Benedict XVI will celebrate a “Vigil for All Nascent Human Life” coinciding with first vespers of the First Sunday of Advent.The Holy Father has also requested that “all Diocesan Bishops (and their equivalent) of every particular church preside in analogous celebrations involving the faithful in their respective parishes, religious communities, associations and movements.”An outline for the Vigil was provided from the Congregation for Divine Worship and the Discipline of the Sacraments...

Pope Benedict XVI lead Mass at Cofton Park on Sunday at the culmination of his four-day UK state visit.... Peter Jennings, spokesman for the Archdiocese of Birmingham, said: "The whole visit itself has been a huge boost for everybody It's given new confidence to the Catholic Church and also to our relations with the Church of England and other churches." ...Father Richard Duffield, Provost of the Birmingham Oratory, said the Pope met a group of parishioners there and also thanked workers at the Oratory. He added the Pontiff had also given a blessing to the Oratory's cat.

Citing the “alleged crimes” of a variety of world leaders, Brazilian “artist” Gil Vicente’s drawings of himself killing different leaders opened at the Sao Paulo Art Biennial on Saturday. To the best of my knowledge, it’s the first time that artwork - if you can call it that - depicting the assassination of the Pope has ever gone on display publicly. It’s offensive, outrageous, and hate-filled. Vicente’s charcoal drawing of the Pope shows him confronting Pope Benedict XVI with a pistol. The Pope has his hands upturned. As part of the series, Vicente is shown assassinating a total of nine...

Though the Crusades were fought centuries ago and are rarely, if ever, mentioned in Catholic classrooms, Muslims today who want Jihad continue to flaunt them in vengeful tones and wallow in hatred for Catholicism. So it was when Pope Benedict XVI visited the United Kingdom and was met on his itinerary by a group of angry Islamists urging for his death and calling him "responsible" for the Crusades. Muslim demonstrators shouted "Pope Benedict, you will pay, Islam is on its way," "Sharia is on its way," "Justice is on its way" (a lot is coming our way, it seems) and...

The campaigners against the pope’s visit have more in common with the fanatical Inquisitors of old than with Enlightened liberal humanists. Pope Benedict XVI’s visit to Britain, which starts today, has provided much of the British cultural elite with a figure that it is okay to hate. Indeed, anti-Catholic prejudice is one of the main themes of today’s increasingly conformist imagination. It has reached a level where anyone who doesn’t possess a strong feeling of animosity towards the pope and his visit is viewed as a hopeless apologist for the abusive authority of theocratic despots. The current display of anti-papal...

The man, aged 29, was arrested on suspicion of the commission, preparation or instigation of acts of terrorism. He was taken from a home in north London and is being interviewed by detectives. Five of the suspects already arrested, who are aged 26, 27, 36, 40 and 50, are thought to have worked as street clearners and are being held and questioned under the Terrorism Act 2000. Armed counter-terror officers swooped on the central London agency to which they were registered in the early hours of the morning. The firm where the arrests were made is now being searched, as...

Police have arrested five suspected Islamist terrorists, working as street cleaners in London, over an alleged plan assassinate the Pope. The men were arrested during raids at 5.45am at a rubbish depot in central London based on an intelligence tip off received overnight. The suspects, aged 26, 27, 36, 40 and 50 were arrested by officers from Scotland Yard’s Counter Terrorism Command on suspicion of the commission, preparation or instigation of acts of terrorism. They are said to be from a variety of nationalities including a number of Algerian origin. The depot where they worked is less than a mile...

The Holy Father’s visit to the United Kingdom Sept. 16-19 will culminate in the beatification of Cardinal John Henry Newman, whose conversion from Anglicanism to Catholicism cost him his job, his friends and his family. The move also resulted in suspicion from members of both religions until, to his great joy, Pope Leo XIII named him a Cardinal in his older years. Pope Benedict XVI’s U.K. visit will center on the theme, "Cor ad Cor loquitur" ("Heart Speaks to Heart"), the theme Newman chose for his coat of arms in 1879 when he became a Cardinal. TV, Radio and Online...

 *Bishop Fellay says the " Holy Father celebrates the old Mass privately" and that an italian Bishop has said he will leave the Church if he does.  He said this in a speech at the 2010 priestly ordinations.*(Kreuz.net) Pope Benedict XVI. And his secretary George Gaenswein celebrate the old Mass. This is according to the General Superior of the Society of Pius X, Bishop Bernard Fellay, in a speech in the 8th of July in the Brazilian city of Bahia.You can listen to the speech on the page '4shared.com' under user 'fbmvm'.

On the Year for Priests, Year of Fruits "The Priest Is Formed by ChristÂ’s Charity Itself" VATICAN CITY, JUNE 13, 2010 (Zenit.org).- Here is a translation of the address Benedict XVI gave today before and after praying the midday Angelus with crowds gathered in St. Peter's Square.* * *Dear brothers and sisters!The Year for Priests concluded a few days ago. Here in Rome we experienced some unforgettable days with the presence of more than 15,000 priests from every part of the world. So, today I would like to give thanks to God for all the good things that have come...

Attorneys for the Diocese of Norwich are trying to keep secret hundreds of documents — including a letter written to the pope when he was a cardinal — that discussed the status of a priest accused of molesting more than a dozen young girls. The letter from Bishop Michael Cote to then-Cardinal Joseph Ratzinger in April 2005 concerned "canonical processes" regarding Thomas W. Shea, a retired priest accused of molesting as many as 16 girls at 11 different parishes during a nearly 40-year career, according to court records. The letter is one of more than 600 documents that the diocese...

"We have to re-learn the essentials: conversion, prayer, penance, and the theological virtues." Thus, Benedict XVI today on the way to Portugal. My friend John L. Allen Jr., the fair-minded nearly ubiquitous, who is sadly still correspondent for for the ultra-liberal NRC, provided an English translation of the airplane presser with Benedict XVI on the way to Lisbon. He spoke of the economic crisis, secularization, the clerical abuse crisis and the "third secret" of Fatima. Here is an excerpt with my relevant emphases and comments. Q: Now we look to Fatima, which will be the spiritual culmination of this trip....

John Allen looks at the background of Pope Benedict's coming trip to Fatima, Portugal. He notes that the five foreign trips the Pope has scheduled for this year-- to Malta, Portugal, Cyprus, Great Britain, and Spain-- "are almost laid out in ascending order of difficulty." Benedict in Portugal: A different crisis, secularism, and 'Marian Cool' As fate would have it, Pope Benedict XVI's five foreign trips in 2010 are almost laid out in ascending order of difficulty. Last month's weekend stop in Malta, arguably the most Catholic society on earth, amounted to the warm-up act, while next week's four-day swing...

Late this morning, well after Roman Noon, the Holy See Press Office made the notable announcement that at 6pm Eastern local time (noon ET), the Pope would be heading across St Peter's Square to his "home" of 23 years: the Palazzo del Sant'Uffizio (right), to visit the offices of the Congregation for the Doctrine of the Faith. Three days after its current head gave an unprecedented American TV interview to defend the dicastery's history on the matter, the news is significant given the CDF's role in handling the cases of clergy credibly accused of sex-abuse and their dismissal from...

A mass in Washington DC, celebrating five years since Benedict XVI became the pope, had to be changed at the last minute when it was discovered that the priest who was originally due to give the mass, was involved in the church's sex-abuse scandal. Cardinal Dario Castrillon of Colombia, who was once on the shortlist for pope, sent a letter to a French bishop congratulating him for not reporting a priest who raped and abused a dozen boys. Al Jazeera's Monica Villamizar reports from Washington.

VATICAN CITY - Gay groups and politicians condemned Pope Benedict's number two on Wednesday for calling homosexuality a "pathology" and linking it directly to sexual abuse of children. The comments made by Cardinal Tarcisio Bertone during a visit to Chile, and the controversy they caused, were splashed on mainstream Italian newspapers on Wednesday. The French foreign ministry and some Catholic blogs that support the pope also condemned the cardinal's remarks.

Gay rights groups have condemned the Vatican's secretary of state, Cardinal Tarcisio Bertone, for claiming that the Catholic church's sexual abuse crisis was linked to homosexuality and paedophilia and not celibacy among priests.Bertone, who is considered Pope Benedict's number two, sparked the controversy on a visit to Chile when he suggested gay sexuality was to blame for the church's child abuse scandals.Homosexual associations in Italy reacted with anger and indignation. The biggest group, Arcigay, called the cardinal's words "shocking and irresponsible". The president of the gay media service, Gaynet, said if senior church officials "feel constrained to dump the blame...

Having criticized particular Catholic cardinals for blaming everything–including the Church’s sex scandal–on “the Jews”, let me now come to the defense of the Pope and of the Church itself on this issue. To begin with, this is an extraordinarily complex problem, because the Church has at least five important traditions that make it difficult to move quickly and aggressively in response to complaints of abuse. The first tradition involves confidentiality, particularly not exclusively the confidentiality of the priest with regard to the penitent. But there is also a wider spread tradition of confidentiality within the Church hierarchy itself. Second, there...