Pope Francis has praised the work of his predecessor Pope Benedict in tackling abuse in the Church.
Speaking on his February 18 return flight from Mexico to
Rome, the Pope said he wanted “to honour the man who fought in moments
when he had no strength to impose himself” and said “Cardinal Ratzinger
deserves applause”.
In a response to a question about abuse by the late Msgr Marcial Maciel, the disgraced Mexican founder of the Legionaries of Christ, the Pontiff detailed how while still a cardinal Pope Benedict did as much as was possible to investigate allegations about Msgr Maciel. Ten days before the death of St John Paul II, Pope Francis continued, the then Cardinal Ratzinger “said to the whole Church that it needed to clean up the dirt of the Church”, repeating this before the conclave that elected him Pope.
http://www.irishcatholic.ie/article/vatican-news-10
In a response to a question about abuse by the late Msgr Marcial Maciel, the disgraced Mexican founder of the Legionaries of Christ, the Pontiff detailed how while still a cardinal Pope Benedict did as much as was possible to investigate allegations about Msgr Maciel. Ten days before the death of St John Paul II, Pope Francis continued, the then Cardinal Ratzinger “said to the whole Church that it needed to clean up the dirt of the Church”, repeating this before the conclave that elected him Pope.
http://www.irishcatholic.ie/article/vatican-news-10
