Ratzinger: "Church Clergy is without obligation to follow standards of conduct in democracy and civil society"

Dispute reveals contrasting perceptions of Benedict’s role in Rome

VATICAN CITY The Irish Times, Senior Vatican figures hoist the drawbridge when it comes to criticism of the Pope, writes PADDY AGNEW IT IS NOW clear that the one section of the Taoiseach's attack on the Vatican in the Dail last week that has thoroughly annoyed the Holy See is that passage in his speech where Mr Kenny quotes Pope Benedict - then Cardinal Ratzinger - in a 1990 Congregation for the Doctrine of the Faith (CDF) document. Towards the end of his speech, the Taoiseach talks about "two pieces of legislation" with regard to protecting "the sacred space of childhood" that his Government intended to promote. At this point, he quotes Ratzinger, saying: "Standards of conduct appropriate to civil society or the workings of a democracy cannot be purely and simply applied to the church."

http://feeds.feedburner.com/benedict16