In Pope Benedict’s final letter, he asked for forgiveness. In the past, Benedict acknowledged “his failure to act decisively at times in confronting sexual abusers.”

The priest sex abuse scandals over the decades have been shocking and horrific. The issue has been debilitating to those directly and indirectly affected. More than $3 billion have been paid in legal settlements to victims between 1950 and 2018.

Over 7,000 members of the Catholic church sexually abused over 20,000 minors, predominately young white boys. The man responsible for disciplinary action for the church for over 25 years was then-Archbishop/ Cardinal Joseph Ratzinger who would go on to become Pope Benedict XVI.

A major asset of the Catholic church is its school buildings. A countless number of Catholic schools were closed in the inner cities in my home state of Connecticut. These school closures impaired, if not eliminated, accessibility to a Catholic school education, which…