The Catholic Church

The Pope celebrates mass at the Vatican yesterday

The Catholic church is in crisis. Counsellors were on stand-by yesterday as a hot-line was set up by the church in Germany for people who had been abused by priests. But they were overwhelmed with the response and couldn't cope with the 4,459 people who rang. In the end, only 162 callers were given advice before the system shut down. Andreas Zimmer, head of the project, admitted that he wasn't prepared for "that kind of an onslaught".

In a scramble to win back some scredibility, Bishop Stephan Ackermann, who was appointed last year, said that three priests had been passed on to public prosecutors and promised that two more would soon follow. But it's all too little, too late for the church, as people all around the world find the courage to speak out for the first time.


Evidence is building against the German-born Pontiff Benedict XVI which includes protecting priests who were known child sex abusers. The Pope was allegedly aware of a case in the US where priest Lawrence Murphy spent years sexually abusing deaf children at a school in Wisconsin. When the matter was brought before Cardinal Ratzinger, later to become the Pope, he chose to take no action. This horrendous mistake on his part, has cost the church dearly. To make matters worse, he has chosen not to mention it in any of His Easter addresses so far and seems to be ignoring the scandal altogether.

But it's not going away and the world waits for his answer.