Pope Benedict along with Angelo Sodano, dean of the College of Cardinals and former Vatican secretary of state; Cardinal Tarcissio Bertone, now secretary of state; and Cardinal William Lavada, head of the CDF have been accused of crimes against humanity, in a formal complaint to the international criminal court (ICC) filed by the Centre for Constitutional Rights (CCR), a US-based organization that represents the claimants.

The submission, lodged at The Hague on Tuesday, accuses the four men not only of failing to prevent or punish perpetrators of rape and sexual violence but also of engaging in the “systematic and widespread” practice of concealing sexual crimes around the world.  According to the document filed by CCR, the pope, as head of the Catholic church, is ultimately responsible for the sexual abuse of children by priests and for the cover-ups of that abuse. The group argues that he and others have “direct and superior responsibility” for the crimes of those ranked below them, similar to a military chain of command.

Its too bad the Catholic Church cannot be retroactively charged with genocide for the hundreds of thousands, if not millions, they burned to death or murdered in other ways for daring to think their own thoughts throughout the centuries.