What it's finally come to for this pope and his Catholic Church

Finally, finally--though it's far too little and far too late--this pope has come around to doing what he, his predecessors and the Catholic Church have told their followers to do for centuries. That is, he and they have finally a) humbled themselves and b) asked for forgiveness for all their child molestation scandals. Wow. Let's see, it's only centuries and thousands of cases, at least, overdue. From NPR today: Pope Benedict XVI met Saturday with five people who were molested by priests as children and apologized to them, even as abuse survivors and thousands of people opposed to his visit marched in central London in the biggest protest of his five-year papacy. Benedict met for about 30-40 minutes with the victims at the Vatican's apostolic nunciature in Wimbledon, according to the Vatican and Bill Kilgallon, chairman of the National Catholic Safeguarding Commission — a church group that organized the encounter. Benedict "expressed his deep sorrow and shame over what victims and their families had suffered," according to a Vatican statement. Well, to this pope and his Catholic Church I'd have to say thanks. But I also have to add, again, that it is far too little. And it is far too late. Sinead O'Connor, I'll also repeat, has been vindicated, sadly, many, many times over. Link to original story: http://www.npr.org/templates/story/story.php?storyId=129953080