bild

In this Monday, March 16, 1987 photo, Cardinal Joseph Ratzinger, Head of the Congregation for the Doctrine of the Faith, appears at the Foreign Press Club in Rome. The Vatican has been on the defensive in recent days as criticism over the handling of some of the abuse probes in the United States and in Pope Benedict XVI's German homeland have threatened to engulf the papacy. Benedict, in his previous role as a Vatican-based Cardinal Joseph Ratzinger, directed the Holy See office that deals with sex allegations. (AP Photo/Giulio Broglio)