Qui custodiet ipsos custodes? Pope Benedict went further than expected in the way he dealt with the issue of sexual abuse of minors by Catholic priests in America, and earned much praise for it. Not only did he condemn it in the strongest terms several times, but he met victims of the abuse in person, an occasion of high emotion which appeared to have been cathartic. And when Cardinal Francis George of Chicago admitted that the issue had "sometimes been very badly handled" by the bishops, the Pope repeated those words, although he went on to applaud the work that they were now doing to heal the wounds.

But this does not mean that the sky is now entirely cloudless. Questions remain, some of which touch on the Pope's own role in the Church's response to the scandal, not only in the United States but elsewhere. Whatever happened, it happened on his watch when he was head of the Congregation for the Doctrine of the Faith (CDF). Was it "sometimes very badly handled" by the CDF too? Unfortunately the real issue has been obscured by some tendentious claims relating to two obscure Vatican documents. They were said to show that Pope Benedict had authorised an official cover-up, first by not withdrawing the document "Crimen Sollicitationis" which had been in force since 1962, and then by issuing "De Delictis Gravioribus" in 2001, which updated it. Both dealt with the procedures to be followed in the case of a priest using the confessional to solicit sexual favours, and imposed confidentiality on the parties.

This was said - by, among others, a notorious BBC Panorama television programme in 2006 - to mean that bishops dealing with complaints against priests were obliged to cover them up and not report them to the police. But that is not how the documents were interpreted in practice, and there is no evidence that any bishop used these documents as an excuse for not doing what he ought to have done. In any event, if these documents said ...

Benedict XVI, who has just celebrated the third anniversary of his election as Pope, has surprised those who expected his papacy to be a seamless continuation of his role as head of the Congregation for the Doctrine of the Faith. There has been no witch-hunt of those who do not subscribe to a narrow conservative orthodoxy. Instead, his personal humility and conviction have endeared him to the millions who have seen ...

There are two messages the American Catholic Church is likely to hear from Pope Benedict XVI during his visit next week to Washington and New York. The first is to remain true to itself, to its distinct traditions, beliefs and values, in the face of the temptations of secularisation, materialism and relativism. The second is not to be afraid to claim its proper place in the mainstream of American life and thought, ...

The Catholic Church's opposition to research on human embryos presented Gordon Brown with the threat of resignation by three Catholic Cabinet ministers, who opposed key clauses of the Human Fertilisation and Embryology Bill now before Parliament. The Prime Minister has now relented under pressure and allowed a free "conscience" vote. But easing the consciences of Cabinet ministers, good though that may ...

Stem cells have the remarkable capacity to grow into any part of the body. That is why research using stem cells offers the prospect of treatment for a wide range of serious and painful diseases. But when it involves the use, and then destruction, of fertilised human eggs, the Catholic Church says that this is tampering with human life, and unacceptable. Nor is it alone in saying so. If faith-based objections to this ...