Well, Frank, I don't think anybody is defending "these priests" nowaways. When he was Cardinal Ratzinger and head of the Congregation for the Doctrine of the Faith, it did seem like the Pope dragged his heels at first. Then, finally, it seemed that he "got it" - despite the fact that John Paul II was still supporting Fr. Maciel, the notorious founder of the Legionaries of Christ, Ratzinger started an investigation. And when he became Pope, he banished Maciel. Now it comes out that Maciel was a morphine addict, molested at least 20 seminarians, and fathered children by at least two women....and his followers wanted him declared a saint. Maciel died in infamy, but his legacy lives on in the insidious Legionaries. But it does seem that Ratzinger/Benedict saw the light a couple of years before he became Pope, and started to seriously pursue the molesters.
Nowadays, nobody is defending the molesters...but they're still trying to defend the bishops who covered up the crimes.

-Joe-