Pope did not go far enough in decrying abuse in church

It is ironic that just when Pope Benedict XVI decided to publicly speak out against the sexual abuse of minors by priests, the scandal that has plagued the American Catholic Church was back in the news -- as a result of allegations made by a disgraced member of Congress.
The pope was right in his contention that clerical sex abuses were "egregious crimes" that had damaged the standing of the Catholic Church and its clergy. But the impact of his words was overshadowed, in America at least, by former Rep. Mark Foley's claim that he had been abused by a priest when he was an altar boy.
Foley, a Republican from Florida, resigned his House seat after it was revealed that he had sent inappropriate e-mails to student pages working on Capitol Hill. He is now contending that his behavior is connected to his being abused as a boy.
Foley's claim has put the American Catholic Church back in the spotlight, reminding the public of the extent of the problem. It also resurrects the debate about the failure of many bishops to take a hard-line stand against priests accused of such criminal behavior.
Indeed, Pope Benedict's comments last week about the crisis in the church were made to a group of bishops from Ireland.
"In the exercise of your pastoral ministry, you have had to respond in recent years to many heart-rendering cases of sexual abuse of minors," the pontiff told the bishops. "These are all the more tragic when the abuser is a cleric."
Like the American church, the church in Ireland, a country that is overwhelming Roman Catholic, has been shaken to its core by the scandal. All but one seminary has closed after numerous cases of abuse were uncovered.
'Filth'
It was the first time since he became pope in March 2005 that Benedict has spoken specifically about this troubling situation, which may explain why he did not also focus on the willingness of some in the church's hierarchy to protect abusive priests, rather than adopting a no-excuse policy. Prior to his becoming pope, Benedict, then Cardinal Joseph Ratzinger, denounced what he called "filth" in the church "even among those ... in the priesthood," the Associated Press reported last week.
As we noted in an editorial in September 2005, "The cover-up by the hierarchy of the church of hundreds of sexual abuse cases documented throughout the country has been an issue that has received little attention by the Vatican."
We pointed out that in the most publicized case, former Boston Cardinal Bernard Law not only avoided any punishment for protecting abuser priests, but was rewarded with a cushy assignment in Rome by the late Pope John Paul II.
Pope Benedict is to be applauded for publicly talking about what the child-abuse scandal has done to the church, but he must take the next step and focus on why cardinals, archbishops and bishops have been given a pass.
Last year, a grand jury investigating sexual-abuse allegations in the Archdiocese of Philadelphia accused former archbishops and other leaders of concealing and facilitating clergy sex abuse of children for decades. Jurors, who investigated the diocese for more than three years, found that at least 63 priests sexually abused hundreds of minors and that Cardinals John Krol and Anthony J. Bevilacqua "excused and enabled the abuse," according to the Philadelphia Inquirer.
The pope needs to reassure Catholics and nonCatholics that he isn't paying lip service to the child-abuse crisis. He can do so by focusing on the role of the church's elders in permitting this culture to exist for so long.