Retired Pope Benedict Reemerges to Step Into the Roiling Clergy Sex Abuse Debate
For The Los Angeles Times, Tom Kington reports that on Thursday retired Pope Benedict XVI released an essay blaming the sex abuse crisis in the Catholic church on the sexual revolution in the 1960s and an erosion of morality. Kington writes, “The essay was seen by many as undermining Pope Francis because it constitutes a major statement on the crisis despite Benedict’s vow to remain in the shadows.” Benedict writes in the essay, “Why did pedophilia reach such proportions? Ultimately, the reason is the absence of God.”