During a homily in St Peter’s Square delivered before 15,000 priests from around the world to conclude what was to be a year of celebrations, the pope issued his strongest apology yet. Still no specifics about what will change. Except stronger controls on choosing men who enter the priesthood:

“In admitting men to priestly ministry and in their formation we will do everything we can to weigh the authenticity of their vocation and make every effort to accompany priests along their journey, so that the Lord will protect them and watch over them in troubled situations and amid life’s dangers,” he said.

The devil made them do it. The National Catholic Reporter:

Since the Catholic sexual abuse crisis erupted a decade ago, there have been numerous attempts to explain its causes, from a lack of fidelity to an over-emphasis on celibacy and clerical privilege. This morning in Rome, Pope Benedict XVI pointed to a deeper unseen force lurking behind the crisis, especially its timing: the Devil.

It’s no accident, the pope implied, that precisely as the Catholic church was celebrating a “Year for Priests” in 2009-2010, the sexual abuse crisis once again took on massive global proportions.

“It was to be expected that this new radiance of the priesthood would not be pleasing to the ‘enemy,’” Benedict XVI said. “He would have rather preferred to see it disappear, so that God would ultimately be driven out of the world.”

The term “the enemy” is a traditional Catholic way of referring to the Devil.

It’s probably too much to expect the church to end priestly celibacy or ordain women priests, both of which would go far in resolving the underlying cause of the problem.

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