From Dear Derb:

The debate among devout Catholics about this calamity, so far as I can follow it, is not very enlightening. Conservatives blame it all on the reforms of the Vatican II Council (1962-5); liberals blame it on John Paul II himself, saying that his firm traditionalist approach to core doctrines turned off the more open-minded Catholic laity. Both surely know in their hearts that the real culprit is the irresistible appeal of secular hedonism to healthy, busy, well-educated populations.

That, of course, is a mighty broad brush, as Derb acknowledges he might be doing. And though that is an instinct some have—to blame everything on Vatican II—that’s not the whole picture. “Conservatives” have been hard on the bishops for more than the fact that the Mass is in not Latin. And, have taken the scandals quite seriously, as they should be. What is the answer? Reforming ceremonies. Yes, focusing on orthodoxy, and getting good administrators, etc. George Weigel wrote a book on this all worth reading (Mike Novak said everyone should read it), where, you might be interested to know he thanked the secular media for outing, so to speak, the scandals. It was clearly a long time in coming, that outing of serial crimes, and the cleaning must continue. I suspect the next pope will know where his predecessor fell short, and it will be what he will have to put some real priority on.