UNITED STATES
Bloomberg
By Margaret Carlson Feb 14, 2013
This week Margaret Carlson and Ramesh Ponnuru are discussing the legacy of Pope Benedict XVI. Previously, Ramesh responded to Margaret’s column.
The thing about the pope, Ramesh, is that he’s as close to all-powerful as we have in this vale of tears. He’s the president without Congress holding him down. He’s infallible when he wants to be. He has no H.R. department telling him whom he can and cannot fire.
As head of the euphemistically named Congregation for the Doctrine of the Faith, charged with handling the sex-abuse scandal, Cardinal Joseph Ratzinger knew the magnitude of the problem. According to the U.S. Conference of Bishops, since 1950, there have been 6,100 accused priests and religious and 16,000 victims.
As head of the Roman Catholic Church, Pope Benedict XVI could have dramatically cleaned house.
As the spiritual leader of the world’s Catholics, he let us down.
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