Pope Benedict XVI's been talking a lot these days about Church renewal, and it's hard not to imagine that for him the clerical sex abuse scandal plays the central role in his statements' context.

The latest example came yesterday morning in a speech to a group of Brazilian bishops...

The CNN Report, “What the Pope Knew,” was as bad as the sneak previews suggested. It was a messy patchwork of ominous music, endless photos of a solemn Pope Benedict, one-sided commentary and truly sad interviews with victims who recounted shameful incidents of abuse and then were coaxed to link them to Pope Benedict.
 
If mega-lawyer Jeffrey Anderson should have gotten co-authorship rights for his role in The New York Times exposes of last March (as Ken Woodward opined), then he should have been listed as a producer on this show. His documents, his clients and his agenda dominated: And that agenda is simply to lay the groundwork for a legal case against the Vatican.

The Church in Belgium is in crisis in the wake of a recent sexual abuse scandal involving a bishop and a renowned cardinal. It has led to bishops questioning the role of celibacy and criticizing the Vatican while admitting they are afraid of lawsuits if they apologize. All of this has raised questions about an episcopal culture that still seems “not to get it.”

Months after The New York Times’ clumsy attempt to implicate Pope Benedict XVI in the mishandling of the case of a U.S. priest who abused more than 200 deaf children— and after numerous experts and Church officials pointed out that the very documents cited by the Times proved the opposite of its conclusion — CNN is rolling out a “one-hour special” that repeats precisely the same errors.

At his weekly general audience this morning, Pope Benedict XVI recalled his historic trip over the weekend to Great Britain, including his private meeting with five abuse victims.

According to the Vatican Information Service report:

Later in the apostolic nunciature, "I met with some victims of abuses committed by members of the clergy and religious. It was a moment of intense emotion and prayer," said the Holy Father. At his meeting with people responsible for protecting children and young people in Church environments "I thanked them and encouraged them to continue their work, which is part of the Church's long tradition of concern for the respect, education and formation of new generations."

Deacon Greg Kandra, of the Deacon's Bench blog, did an informal test and finds that Americans — including Catholics in the pews — got shortchanged in media coverage of Pope Benedict XVI's historic visit to Great Britain last weekend.

Most people, he believes, came away thinking that the pope went for the main purpose of meeting sex abuse victims, and that Brits by and large weren't happy about him being there.

Pope Benedict XVI’s trip to England and Scotland was preceded by predictions of failure and vociferous condemnations in the media about his handling of the sexual abuse crisis. And as was the case in his visits to the United States, Australia, Portugal and Malta, the pope firmly and repeatedly addressed the crisis in humble but unsparing terms. It began on the flight to Scotland Sept. 16: “It is a great sadness,” the pope said,...

A quick look at Pope Benedict XVI's first day in Great Britain:

On the plane this morning to Great Britain where he'll be making a four-day visit, Pope Benedict XVI told journalists traveling with him he was deeply saddened at clerical sex abuse and that the Church was going through a period of humility and repentence.

"These revelations were for me a shock, and a great sadness. It is difficult to understand how this perversion of the priestly ministry was possible," he said. ...

Pope Benedict XVI continues to sound a message of Church renewal through penance and conversion — not structural reform — in the wake of the clerical sex abuse scandal. In today's general audience, he focused on the work of St. Hildegard of Bingen, a 12th-century German Benedictine, who toward the end of her life became a traveling missionary for ecclesial renewal.