John Allen on Benedict and Clerical-Abuse Scandal

John Allen -- who occupies the regrettably lonely but richly deserved (not the lonely part) position as "journalist on things Catholic who seems to be respected by everyone, even those who seem to disagree about everythign else" -- has this piece, "Keeping the Record Straight on Benedict and the Crisis", in the National Catholic Reporter.  A bit:

. . . Despite complaints in some quarters that all this is about wounding the pope and/or the church, raising these questions is entirely legitimate. Anyone involved in church leadership at the most senior levels for as long as Benedict XVI inevitably bears some responsibility for the present mess. My newspaper, the National Catholic Reporter, today called editorially for full disclosure about the pope's record, and it now seems abundantly clear that only such transparency can resolve the hard questions facing Benedict.

Yet as always, the first casualty of any crisis is perspective. There are at least three aspects of Benedict's record on the sexual abuse crisis which are being misconstrued, or at least sloppily characterized, in today's discussion. Bringing clarity to these points is not a matter of excusing the pope, but rather of trying to understand accurately how we got where we are. . . .