Vatican Defends the Pope

Some people still believe in papal infallibility, it seems: The Vatican issued an angry statement defending the pope from charges that he was involved in the coverup of a Wisconsin priest who was allowed to remain in the clergy even after reports that he molested as many as 200 deaf boys. The Vatican newspaper said that there was a “clear and despicable intention” to defame the pope “at any cost.” The New York Times report said that the church halted a trial of the priest, Reverend Lawrence Murphy, after he wrote a letter to the pope, who was Cardinal Joseph Ratzinger at the time.