Well, I suppose the Pope hasn't solved the problem of child molestation, so he must be guilty.
Or maybe the problem defies a simple solution, since it's a crime perpetrated in private.

I'm a very active Catholic and I spent 8 years in the seminary. Can't say I ever cared much for John Paul II. He seems like a dynamic man and he seems to be a good person, but he's conservative. He has done a lot to slow the progress begun with Vatican II in the 1960's. Many Catholics were unhappy with the changes brought about by Vatican II, and they're quite happy with John Paul II.

It seems to me that he's too sick to do a decent job, and that it's time for him to retire. Trouble is, he has packed the College of Cardinals with men who are more conservative than he is, and I'm afraid of the kind of pope they might elect.

I can't say he's a horrible man. He's just conservative. A lot of nice people are conservative - I don't agree with them, but I don't think they're horrible. I think the Pope is to the Roman Catholic Church what Ronald Reagan was to the US and Margaret Thatcher to the UK. Interestingly, they all took office about the same time.

-Joe Offer-