It is time to tell the truth

The roman catholic church is facing one of its gravest crises of modern times as sex abuse scandals move ever closer to the current pope Joseph Ratzinger. Ratzinger appears to have taken a much harder stance on sex abuse than the Polish pope Wojtyła when he took over the papacy five years ago, disciplining a senior cleric and defrocking others under a new policy of zero tolerance. But the impression remains of an incredibly slowfooted church and of a pope who bears responsibility for allowing pedophile priests to keep their parishes and now, of a cover up at the highest levels of the catholic church. In an editorial Friday March 26, 2010, the National Catholic Reporter in the United States called on Ratzinger to answer questions about his role 'in the mismanagement' of sex abuse cases, not only in the current crisis but during his tenure in the 1980s as archbishop of Munich and then as head of the Vatican's doctrinal and disciplinary office. “It is time, past time really, for direct answers to difficult questions. It is time to tell the truth.” (NCR)