John Haldane says "Time for 'God's Rottweiler' to show his bark – and his bite"

John Haldane, Professor of Philosophy at the University of St Andrews and Consultor to the Pontifical Council for Culture in the Scotsman:

[Pope Benedict is] a gentle man and not at all the strict and harsh disciplinarian suggested by the tabloid title "God's Rottweiler". In view of recent events, however, it may be that some barking and biting are now called for.

...it has been revealed that the founder of another traditionalist Catholic movement, the Legionnaries of Christ, fathered at least one child by a girl of 15 when he was 68. Marcial Maciel had long been the subject of accusations of sexual predation, but his movement produced hundreds of priests and he found favour with John Paul II.

I've come across these rumors that the woman Maciel impregnated was 15 at the time she became pregnant. Currently, however, I do not find them credible and have strong private evidence that she was not a minor. Once again, however, the Legion's secrecy makes it impossible to definitively dismiss these rumors, so in all likilihood they will continue to spread.

Anyway, Haldane continues:

... [Maciel's] movement, however, was not reformed. Benedict had acted, but the Vatican had not followed through, and members of the Legionnaries behaved as if it were business as usual. So, again, the charge arises: did the Vatican not care or did it not know. Either way, its failure imperils Pope Benedict's project of reform, renewal, and restoration.

Yes - the current situation is a wound to the universal Church that does not promise to heal itself.