One of the previous Pope’s closest friends was accused of child molestation; & Pope Benedict XVI laid the smack-down on him. The Vatican* told Father Marcial Maciel Degollado that he is not allowed any public appearances & cannot be present at Mass anymore. Father Marcial is the founder of the powerful Legionaires of Christ movement, & very conservative. He is was a big-shot, & for the Vatican to publicly take a stand against him & censure him so, says that they are dedicated to the fight against any pedophiles among them. This is probably the 1st time that I will ever say that I do applaud the Pope & the Vatican on their decision.

The pic is of Pope John Paul II giving his blessing to father Marcial in an old photo (dated 11/30/2004). Father Marcial was one of Pope John Paul’s (the previous Pope’s) favorite sons.

Related Stories:
Time article
NY Times Article

*The Vatican is such a beautiful city/state. A lot of it is not open to the public, like the gardens, but you can find pictures of them when they are allowed to be filmed. It is such a gorgeous & tranquil place. Interesting sidenote: it’s like 100 yards away from Rome, but since it’s a sovereign country, it has it’s own postal service. If you live in Rome, it’s worth it to cross the border & mail your stuff from the Vatican instead, cause it’ll get to its destination twice as fast.