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 in Rome for their traditional every-six-years visit and reports to Vatican offices.

Catholic News Service has the story:

No one is "so cold as to not experience feelings of guilt," [the pope] said, adding that such feelings are necessary "for the health of the soul."

Everyone needs God "to remove the layers of dust and filth that have collected on God's image inscribed in us," Pope Benedict said.

The layers of sin make God's image within each person unrecognizable, he said. When those layers are removed, the individual begins to look like Christ and more like everyone else who has become more Christ-like through purification, said the pope.

"We need forgiveness, which is the backbone of every real reform," he said.

The renewal of the individual "also becomes the core of the renewal of the community," he said. When people realize that it is Christ who lives in them, they are "torn from isolation and welcomed" into the community of believers, the pope said.

The Church accompanies each individual in the process of purification, which can start out as a long, arduous process, but will always become more joyful, he said.

Read the entire story here. And if your Portuguese is good, here's the original text of the pope's speech.