Pope's Damage Control Efforts Unraveling?

It seems that people never learn that it's the lying and cover up attempts that often prove more damning than the original actions. Ask the ghost of Richard Nixon. Now the same phenomenon may be pulling Benedict XVI down in to the quagmire as stories continue to unfold that show his initial denials were bald faced lies. Papa Ratzi has tried consistently to claim he was ignorant of the transfer of predator priests and/or policies of deliberate cover up and the intimidation of victims. Not so it seems. First, the New York Times has disclosed that Benedict XVI DID know about the return of the infamous "Fr. H" to ministry in Germany. Then there is the new attention being given to a 2006 BBC1 show that went into Benedict's role of re- enforcing the Church's policy of cover up and keeping molestation reports from the police. As I have asked before, when is Benedict going to do the right thing and resign? The media smell blood in the water and it will probably only get worse as more lies are exposed. First, highlights from the New York Times:
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MUNICH — The future Pope Benedict XVI was kept more closely apprised of a sexual abuse case in Germany than previous church statements have suggested, raising fresh questions about his handling of a scandal unfolding under his direct supervision before he rose to the top of the church’s hierarchy.
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An initial statement on the matter issued earlier this month by the Archdiocese of Munich and Freising placed full responsibility for the decision to allow the priest to resume his duties on Cardinal Ratzinger’s deputy, the Rev. Gerhard Gruber. But the memo, whose existence was confirmed by two church officials, shows that the future pope not only led a meeting on Jan. 15, 1980, approving the transfer of the priest, but was also kept informed about the priest’s reassignment.
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The case of the German priest, the Rev. Peter Hullermann, has acquired fresh relevance because it unfolded at a time when Cardinal Ratzinger, who was later put in charge of handling thousands of abuse cases on behalf of the Vatican, was in a position to refer the priest for prosecution, or at least to stop him from coming into contact with children.
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In terms of the BBC1 broadcast, the London Evening Standard had some of the details on the program's content - none of it good for Benedict - which seems to have new relevance to events that are now unfolding. Here are highlights:
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The Pope played a leading role in a systematic cover-up of child sex abuse by Roman Catholic priests, according to a shocking documentary to be screened by the BBC tonight.
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In 2001, while he was a cardinal, he issued a secret Vatican edict to Catholic bishops all over the world, instructing them to put the Church's interests ahead of child safety.
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The document recommended that rather than reporting sexual abuse to the relevant legal authorities, bishops should encourage the victim, witnesses and perpetrator not to talk about it. And, to keep victims quiet, it threatened that if they repeat the allegations they would be excommunicated.
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And Father Tom Doyle, a Vatican lawyer until he was sacked for criticising the church's handling of child abuse claims, says: "What you have here is an explicit written policy to cover up cases of child sexual abuse by the clergy and to punish those who would call attention to these crimes by the churchmen.
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The Panorama programme is presented by Colm O'Gorman, who was raped by a priest when he was 14. He said: "What gets me is that it's the same story every time and every place. Bishops appoint priests who they know have abused children in the past to new parishes and new communities and more abuse happens."
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Benedict XVI has called gays "inherently disordered." It would seem that he was looking in the mirror when he made that conclusion. The man is abhorrent.