Pope not immune against abuse charges

The Supreme Court in Washington on Monday stripped the Vatican of its diplomatic immunity. This will allow the Vatican to be called to account under civil law in connection with charges of abuse against priests in the US. The Pope responded indirectly to this in announcing his intention to found a Papal Council for a spiritual reform of the church, the left-liberal daily La Repubblica believes: "The shy intellectual, who has been in command of the Catholic Church for five years has climbed down from his ivory tower of retreat. Now at the helm he has shown a degree of determination that will surprise only the ignorant. ... The debate about the abuse scandal among the clergy and the cover-up that went all the way up to the highest ranks of the Holy See, has predictably led to unavoidable tensions within the Church leadership. Benedict XVI, clearly intends to steer further developments himself by using his proposed spiritual reform to rally the inner front to adopt a unified line. He is thus going way beyond any general moralizing measures."

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