How next pope must tackle child sex abuse - CNN Opinion

Editor's note: Jeff Anderson is an attorney and the founder of Jeff Anderson and Associates in St. Paul, Minnesota. He has represented survivors of sexual abuse by clergy and other authority figures for 28 years.

(CNN) -- As Pope Benedict XVI steps down, the moral authority and future of the Roman Catholic Church depends on the next pope forcefully dealing with child sex abuse in its ranks.

Benedict had the power to effect fundamental, institutional change from the top that would have protected children of future generations. Benedict failed to change the Vatican's traditional methods of handling child sex abuse by priests and so abuse of children continued, with thousands of more cases...."

http://www.cnn.com/2013/02/27/opinion/anderson-next-pope-avoid-abuse/index.html