This is an extremely complex affair. Any perspective on the issue requires wading through various legal and ecclesiastical documents. More seems to have been done to set a 'fence at the top of the cliff' in the Catholic Church than in other organisations but the media's focus on the Church must have surely played a role in this. To my mind there are three outstanding matters that will need to be addressed over the next decade:

1. Identifying what can be of most relief for victims. More formal organisations could be set up within the Church, like Zimmerman House in Newcastle, to coordinate help. Various prayers and recognition of these crimes could be attached to the penance of Ember days, Good Friday, etc.
2. Accountability of bishops who have been negligent and an accompanying 'purification of memory'. There are existing remedies in Canon Law that can be explored and implemented.
3. Greater familiarity with contemporary media by the Holy See (and corresponding communication strategies)

I expect we will see many more of these articles in the coming months. But it would be good to see them morph from their present stage of denial, into something a little more positive.

>>Commentators seem to be more focused on how they can associate Pope Benedict XVI with child sex abuse in the most remote way thinkable, as opposed to actually seeking justice for the victims of abuse.<<

This is the stuff of conjuring tricks - hey, look over there, nothing up my sleeve.

The two issues are entirely different. And should therefore be treated separately by the press and by other commentators.

The issue being addressed is not remediation, but association. It is a perfectly legitimate question to ask - how much did Cardinal Ratzinger know about what was going on, and how did he act upon any criminal activity that had been uncovered?

How much he is doing to rectify the situation is indeed a valid story. But a different one entirely - not to mention one that has a different angle to it, depending upon the Pope's previous involvement.

I do not like witchhunts. They tend to bring out the worst in sensationalist journalism and shock-jockery. But it does no-one any favours to attempt to muddy the waters with some "look, over there" diversion.

Incidentally, I take leave to doubt the veracity of this piece of added colour.

"However, I was horrified to hear an educated member of society recently state "Hasn't the Pope been accused of paedophilia"?"

Oh, please.

An "educated member of society" who doesn't read the newspapers or listen to the news?

I don't think so.

The bishops have cleaned up their act but only after a long time and after revelations in the media. I think that many still do not 'get i'.

Now as far as the media themselves, they have hypocritical behaviours.
Many TV and print and internet media advertise ( take money) for brothels, prostitutes, so-called 'phone sex'whilst at the sme time getting all indignant ( feigned) when women get raped because of the viewing of these materials.
There is also pornography which is acted out by young malesincluding some football players who act out scenes together as if it were out of central porn casting.
Does the media report on the huge numbers of both pedophiles and non-pedophile sex tours of south -east Asia? Womena dn men as well as boys and girls are sexually exploited by Aussies, Germans, Yanks, Canadians, Italians, Arabs etc you name it. Where is the media for the abused?

Nah. The media is only out to get Catholic priests and to lump them as 'pedophiles. Yet the majority of abuse is not pedophilic but abuse of teenagers and those in their 20s. And the ratio is around 4:1 homosexual in nature. Now the media would tell the truth because they support the homosexual lifestyle.
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ApcfDGFSpus

Mary, I too have faith in humanity; faith that it will shy away from the types of behaviour and cover-up that underpins the things you complain about.

J Ratzinger was Archbishop of Munich when a psychiatrist recommended to his office an abusive priest - Hullermann - was untreatable and should be removed from the presence of children. That did not happen.

Ratzinger was Cardinal for the CDF for over 20 years, and was known as JP IIs Rotweiler. In 2001 he re-iterated the policy of Crimens Solicitations that all abuse allegation were to be kept "in house". He delayed cases, despite the pleas of local Bishops overseeing those cases, such as the case of Michael Teta -

http://www.smh.com.au/world/rome-waited-to-ban-pedophile-priest-20100403-rkb7.html

Ratzinger has tried to continue to administer the cover-up as Poope. He manipulated Irish Church hierarchy into deferring to the Vatican, and now has criticized them for covering-up as a form of secondary bullying. Shameful.

The recent responses blaming homosexuality in general (despite it having been a big part of the priesthood) is shameful, and to liken it to anti-semitism - when the Catholic church has been the biggest anti-semetic organisation in recent millenia - is despicable.

The debauched behaviour has been going on Catholic monasteries and seminaries for centuries, and was one of the factors in the bi-polar response of the German Catholic church to the rise of Hitler, as Hitler was able to criticise the debauchery as part of his divide and conquer approach.

For Webby to say the abuse was [only] "of teenagers and those in their 20s" is just weird. The issue is the long-standing debauched behaviour and denial around that. Immoral, unethical, and all based on fictitious premisses devloped into a political movement by and for the ancient Romans (that underpinned the fall of that empire, too)

Sexual abuse occurs across all cultures, religions as well as those peoples of pre-Christian times.
The Catholics bishops ( most of them) are facing up to the fact that they need to respect St Paul's instruction to us to adhere to the secualr laws insofar as they are right and just eg criminal law reporting and penalties for sex offenders. This is rendering to Caesar what belongs to Caesar as Christ taught.

I do however have a problem with obstinate club mentality thinking of a few bishops who had to be metaphorically dragged kicking and screaming into assisting the secular law enforcement authorities with these crimes against men, women, boys and girls.

I am also concerned with secualr religion haters ( particularly those who hate Catholics and the Catholic Church). They are insincere because they only focus upon priests and also overuse the term 'pedophile priests' whenin most cases of abuse ( by less than 4% of priests by the way) is that most abuse is against boys and young men. NOw secularists and the media do not report on this because of their support for homosexuality. This is the elephant in the room for the Catholic hating secularists who share much in common with fundamentalist Protestants. Time for Catholic haters to admit their hypocrisy and to widen their outrage to all offenders, not just some priests.

Most estimates are that about 33% of Catholic clergy and priests are homosexual

http://www.religioustolerance.org/hom_rcc.htm