Yes, indeed he is. And I think he owes us all an apology.
In fact, the Church has apologized. In the year of our Lord 2000, His Holiness Pope Paul II begged forgiveness for, among some other things, the crusades, the Inquisition, the persecution of the Jewish people, and injustice towards women, that’s half the human race, and the forced conversion of indigenous peoples, especially in South America, the African slave trade, the admission that Galileo was right, and for silence during Hitler’s Final Solution. And let us not forget the abomination that is known as limbo. A place where unbaptized babies were sent when they died.
And it doesn’t end there. There have been regrets, a few, for the rape and torture of orphans and other children in church-run schools in almost every country on Earth.
Am I angry? You bet I am. The Church should be roundly condemned for the mayhem it has perpetrated on the human race. Its walls should crumble and fall to the ground.
As far as “Ratso” Ratzinger is concerned, it is a matter of profound indifference to me whether he lives or dies.
Ghost Dog 
Pardon my ignorance, but I don’t even know who the pope is, these days. I am not Catholic, and I don’t feel owed an apology from the head of a religion which has perpetrated horrors on all kinds of non-believers since Catholicism sequed from Judaism or other religions.
The current pope cannot presume to apologize for Catholicism, nor would it mean much to me if he did.
Religion is one of the most contested ideas in the world. Whose god or gods is the right one, and who is qualified to answer the question?
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Exactly!
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I wonder whether Benedict would have better handled [than pope Francis] the Canadian residential-school Indigenous-children’s unmarked-graves injustice and reconciliation, in particular the papal visit/apology earlier this year?
A news-photo of the pope kissing the hand of the indigenous residential-school survivor, assuming it was a truly heartfelt act, was both moving and significant.
Though I’m not a fan of Catholicism nor the pope, the image somewhat brought to mind how the Biblical Jesus most profoundly washed his disciples’ feet, the act clearly revealing that he took corporeal form to serve. And that he, as a hopeful example of the humility of the divine, joined humankind in our miseries, joys and everything in between.
Regardless, many indigenous people have learned the hardest way about being considered disposable and likely feel the pope’s hand-kiss definitely will not suffice.
Whether consciously or subconsciously, human beings can actually be (mis)perceived and (mis)treated as though they are disposable and, by extension, their suffering and death are somehow less worthy of external concern, even by otherwise relatively civilized countries and their religious institutions.
It was, after all, a serious attempt at annihilating native culture.
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Thanks for your thoughtful response.
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