Retired Pope Benedict XVI has published an essay blaming the Catholic Church’s ongoing abuse scandal on the sexual revolution of the 1960s and lax church laws, directly contradicting the current pope in a manner that one church historian called “catastrophically irresponsible.” NBC News reports Thursday that the former pope’s essay, published in the German monthly Klerusblatt, blames the sexual revolution (he specifically names the inclusion of sex in films in his native Bavaria) and church laws that gave priests too much protection. The current pope, Pope Francis, instead blames a culture that elevated priests over their alleged victims. Theological scholars have spoken out against Benedict’s analysis, NBC News notes, arguing that there were examples of sexual abuse that took place prior to the sexual revolution.
