Recently, Pope Benedict XVI informed journalists that the guilt in the clerical sexual abuse scandal was a result of sin from within the Catholic Church and not from outside. The Pontiff was on a visit to Portugal when he issued this statement. Pope Benedict said that: “The church needs to profoundly relearn penitence, accept purification, learn forgiveness, but also justice. Forgiveness cannot substitute justice.”
This is the closest that the Pope has come to acknowledging responsibility for the long list of sexual abuse claims against Catholic priests from all over the globe.
However, many victim support groups are complaining that the Pope has not enforced his statement at all (that forgiveness cannot substitute justice) because so many of the offending priests have not yet been punished or defrocked for their crimes, says the Daily Maverick.
(For more on this story, please read http://thedailymaverick.co.za)