The article is slanted to say the least. Ten years ago the bishops were blamed. Now it is ONE man - the pope who ic being blamed and that is happening only because he is an effective, orthodox, conservative pope. This can bee seen in the fact that they rely on Nicholas P. Cafardi, an Obama supporter, who several years ago published a book called Before Dallas which squarely blamed the bishops for their handling of the abuse cases. Now he has shifted to blaming the Vatican directly - because that’s the latest fad.
http://www.catholic.org/politics/story.php?id=29897
I have no reason to EVER believe anything the Times says about the faith or the pope or to believe their understanding of things.
I believe the article gives Ratzinger more credit than his predecessor when it comes to the handling of abuse.
The issue is not so much with Ratzinger but the complex and confusing bureaucracy and associated laws in which the cases were handled or not handled.
With regard to shifting blame to the Vatican, isn’t that where church laws and policies are created and approved?
The American Bishops proposed norms which were initially rejected by the Vatican as an example.