Here is an interesting little post from Catholic Culture -- more so if you read French.

A prominent young French intellectual has remarked that attacks on the Catholic Church reflect a general “instinct about the special purity of its mission.”

Fabrice Hadjadj, a convert from Judaism, reminded Le Figaro that the crisis caused by the sex-abuse scandal is not unique in Church history, and the Church has overcome similar crises. It is ironic, he said, that no one understands the gravity of the scandal better than Pope Benedict XVI. He explained: “The Pope, who understands the mystery of the priesthood, finds these crimes much more terrible than the non-Christian media can even conceive.”

Source: L'Église catholique n'a cessé de traverser des crises (Le Figaro)