Pope Benedict XVI on Tuesday blamed the church's own sins for the clerical abuse scandal - not a campaign mounted by outsiders - and called for profound purification to end what he called the "greatest persecution" the church has endured.
His strong comments placed responsibility for the crisis squarely on the sins of pedophile priests, repudiating the Vatican's initial response to the scandal in which it blamed the media as well as pro-choice and pro-gay marriage advocates for mounting what it called a campaign against the church and the pope....