Revelations that Pope Benedict XVI failed to do anything about reports of sexual abuse by priests years ago have raised questions about how much he knew, and when. John Allen, senior correspondent for the National Catholic Reporter, says the Pope isn't just part of the problem, but also an important part of the solution. His op-ed, "A Papal Conversion," appeared in the New York Times.
"Prior to 2001," Allen tells host Neal Conan of then-Cardinal Joseph Ratzinger,"in the very few public statements he had made about this crisis, he came off, to be frank, as just another Roman cardinal in denial."
But after Pope John Paul II put Cardinal Ratzinger and his office in charge of the abuse complaints in 2001, Allen says "he began to talk much more openly about what he described as 'filth' in the Catholic Church, and became much more aggressive about prosecuting abusers."
In his papacy, Pope Benedict has been the first pope "to break the Vatican's wall of silence on this issue."
Still, Allen allows that whether the Pope has done enough is "a matter of fair debate."
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SIC: NPR