BY STACY MEICHTRY
Pope Benedict XVI on Tuesday called on the Roman Catholic Church to take responsibility for its crisis of sexual-abuse allegations against priests, dismissing claims that the scandal had been whipped up in order to discredit the church.
"The greatest persecution of the church doesn't come from enemies on the outside but is born from the sin within the church," Pope Benedict said, according to Vatican radio. Responding to a question about the "suffering" of the church amid allegation of sexual abuse of minors, the pontiff placed th blame for the scandal squarely on the church and called for "purification."
The ...