Consider the Martin Luther era, when things in the Catholic Church were even worse.

Question: Will thernCatholic Church recover from the current scandals? 

Ernst Weizsäcker: They certainly will recover. They've been in existence 2,000 years, andrnthey have a very strong message. rnBut, they don’t deserve to recover soon, unless they really accept thernguilt that some individuals loaded on themselves and the institution has tornlearn that perhaps the conditions under which priests work are conducive torncertain misbehavior.  So, maybe thernconditions will have to be changed. rnThis has been the case in the so-called reformation by Martin Luther andrnothers.  At that time, the CatholicrnChurch was in a much worse state of affairs, with much more guilt in that sensernthan today.  And it has kind of ledrnto a purification.  The challengernfrom the reformation has led the Catholics to learn much from Luther andrnothers.  So, now they are almost indistinguishable.

Recorded on April 9, 2010