Around the year 2000, and with greater intensity in 2002, many cases of alleged abuse of minors by priests or other ministers of the Catholic Church in the United States were widely reported in the media. Thousands of allegations were reported and it was claimed that the number of minors who had suffered from this subject trauma was very high. During the period from 1950 to 2002, 4,392 priests were accused of being involved in child sexual abuse. Seventy-eight percent of the victims were between the ages of 11 and 18. Eventually it was discovered that something similar had happened in Ireland, Germany, Malta and other countries. It is hard to imagine a worse crisis in the Church, given the perversity of the behavior involved. The awareness of what had happened on the part of the faithful of the Catholic Church was a real nightmare. Benedict XVI, both as Prefect of the Congregation for the Doctrine of the Faith and as Roman Pontiff, confronted the problem with firmness.

One of Benedict XVI's first concerns, clearly manifested in February 1988, was a matter of principle. Many of these abusive clerics were leaving the clerical state by means of measures of grace, through dispensation from their priestly duties. But without a just criminal process that concluded with the punishment of the guilty, the severely violated justice was not restored, with the damage that this entailed for the victims and the Church as a whole. This was one of the first claims of Ratzinger, who was then at the head of the Congregation for the Doctrine of the Faith. It is in this context that Benedict XVI addressed the priests of Ireland who had committed such crimes: "You have betrayed the trust placed in you by innocent young people and their parents. You must answer for this before almighty God and before the duly constituted tribunals" (Letter to the Catholics of Ireland, 2010, no. 7).

In order to effectively protect the victims and the common good of the Church, the German pope had to address two disturbing problems. Those really responsible for prosecuting and punishing such conduct were the bishops of the dioceses, to whom the Code of Canon Law granted a wide scope of discretion in dealing with such cases. One of the most dramatic facets of the crisis was the inhibition or bad governance practices of many bishops. Faced with repeated complaints from the faithful, they sometimes simply transferred offending priests from parishes or subjected them to clinical rehabilitation programs of dubious efficacy. The result was often, unfortunately, that the abuses were repeated. He told the bishops of Ireland in 2010: "It cannot be denied that some of you and your predecessors have failed, sometimes gravely, to implement the long-codified norms of the Canon Law on child abuse offenses. Serious errors have been made in responding to allegations" (Letter to the Catholics of Ireland, no. 11).

On the other hand, Benedict XVI saw very clearly the need to establish simpler and more effective procedures for dealing forcefully with these crimes. The right of defense of the accused had to be respected, but in a balanced way that made possible, at the same time, the true protection of the victims and the common good.

All of the above necessarily called for major reforms in Church law. And they began to take place rapidly. On June 28, 1988, John Paul II promulgated the Apostolic Constitution Pastor Bonus, which reorganized the Roman Curia, the central organ that financial aid the Roman Pontiff in the government of the Universal Church. On Ratzinger's initiative, a rule was introduced in this document, in its article 52, which reserved to the skill of the Congregation for the Doctrine of the Faith the most serious crimes against morality. This enabled the Congregation to act promptly in such cases. Subsequently, and in order to guarantee the effective and plenary session of the Executive Council compliance with the provision of the aforementioned article 52, he promulgated the Motu Proprio "Sacramentorun Sanctitatis Tutela" of 2001. It delimited this category of offenses to those committed against the sixth commandment of the Decalogue by a member of the clergy with a minor under 18 years of age. This document was revised in 2010, equating to a minor the person who usually has an imperfect use of reason (think, for example, of persons of more or less advanced biological age, but with a serious mental dysfunction) and including another crime: the acquisition, retention or knowledge dissemination of pornographic images of minors under 14 years of age. In all cases, the most severe punishment was provided for, the expulsion from the clerical state of the convicted member of the clergy , in addition to compensation for damages caused to the victims. Modifications were introduced in the procedural norms to guarantee and expedite the punishment of such behaviors.

As Prefect of the Congregation for the Doctrine of the Faith, he promoted the elaboration and promulgation of a series of special Schools to prosecute and punish a series of crimes, expression of gravely immoral conduct on the part of clerics, in the territories of mission statement. This was important, since the territories of mission statement represent a high percentage of the Catholic orb. Since these were ecclesial communities in a rather embryonic state of development , they had hardly any adequate means and staff to deal with such crimes. These norms provided the essential instruments to carry out this task. Once elevated to the Chair of St. Peter, Benedict XVI confirmed such special Schools and expanded them. Something similar could be said of other special Schools granted to the Congregation for the Clergy in 2009.

subject To these measures of a penal nature must be added others of a disciplinary and pastoral nature, and, of course, a special application for the victims. Pope Benedict met and listened to many who had suffered such mistreatment. He wept with them and asked their forgiveness in the name of the whole Church. We can say that the enormous effort made by Benedict XVI has finally brought the problem under control, making it possible to think today of its eradication.