Irish Prime Minister uses unprecedented language in attack on Vatican.

Have a look at this post on E F Pastor Emeritus. His comments are also worth thinking about. This whole matter is a mess, and whatever the truth may be about the Vatican's mistakes (perhaps only God can see them in the end), the Holy See is in need of serious and radical reform. I suppose many have been hoping that Pope Benedict will deal with this. Blessed Pope John Paul 11 did not manage it, though he was clearly unimpressed with much that he saw and had to deal with. Some might say that perhaps it is, after all, no more than a case of human frailty and sinfulness (from which the Vatican is certainly not exempt), but for a long time now there have been questions hanging in the air about some institutional elements that are not necessarily tied to the Gospel nor, in the 21st century, are in any way necessary either as political safeguards or ecclesiastical window-dressing.