Catholic child abuse and the Pope: links update

As I seem to be constantly coming across new pieces on the Catholic child abuse cover-up, the question of the Pope's involvement, and the idea of mounting a legal challenge when he comes to the UK, here's a round-up of those I've read since I blogged about it this morning. Some are new since then, others I just hadn't read at the time.

Also, don't forget to vote in our poll at the top right of this page: Do you think the Pope should face legal action over the Catholic child abuse cover-ups?

• "How much did the Pope know?" – Canadian current affairs magazine MacCleans provides a balanced overview of the abuse scandal and the question of the Pope's possible involvement in cover-ups.

• "The Pope should stand trial" – Following The Times' misrepresentation of his desire to see the Pope face prosecution over the abuse allegations, Richard Dawkins sets the record straight on the Guardian, saying "there is a clear case to answer".

• "The Pope on trial would should what equality before the law means" – Writing in the Guardian, George Monbiot suggests prosecuting the Pope would be good for international law.

• "Vatican scoffs at Dawkins idea of arresting Pope while in Britain" – Reuters report that Vatican spokesman Father Federico Lombardi has described the suggestion of a legal challenge as a "bizarre idea", saying "I think they should look for something more serious and concrete before we can respond to it. The pope’s visit is a visit of state, and so it would be very strange if during a state visit the person who is invited to make a state visit is arrested.”

• "Top cardinal, Tarcisio Bertone, blames paedophile crisis on homosexuals" – The Times reports that Cardinal Tarcisio Bertone, the Vatican’s Secretary of State, has suggested that homosexuality, and not celibacy, is a cause of paedophilia.

• "The Pope and the abuse scandal: a guide for perplexed Catholics" – the Catholic Herald newspaper's guide to the allegations surrounding the Pope.

• "Catholics may just have to sit out this anti-Papal media frenzy" – Catholic blogger Damian Thompson, an outspoken defender of Benedict XVI, declares himself "bored" with the speculation regarding the Pope. Moreover, he believes that "badly researched" journalism is deflecting attention away from the real culprits: "As I’ve said before, bishops who were responsible for paedophile cover-ups – and there are plenty – can count themselves lucky that major newspapers have assigned reporters to these stories who know as much about the Catholic Church as I do about electrical engineering, and screw up accordingly. Listen, no one is going to arrest the Pope, so can we drop the fantasising, please?"

• "Arrest the Pope? I rather think we should" – Writing in The Times, Libby Purves says that, despite her reservations about the New Atheists, she welcomes the idea of arresting the Pope. "This thing needs airing properly," she says, "if the good bits of world Catholicism are to survive."