NOW he's ashamed?

Pope Benedict today said he was 'deeply ashamed' of the actions of pedophile priests.

“It’s difficult for me to understand how it was possible that priests betrayed in this way their mission to give healing, to give the love of God to these children,” the pope said, adding that the church would work to exclude pedophiles from the priesthood.

“It is more important to have good priests than to have many priests,” he said.

But in 2001, while still just Cardinal Ratzinger he issued an update to a secret Vatican edict to Catholic bishops all over the world, arguably instructing them to put the Church's interests ahead of child safety.

The document recommended that rather than reporting sexual abuse to the relevant legal authorities, bishops should encourage the victim, witnesses and perpetrator not to talk about it. And, to keep victims quiet, it threatened that if they repeat the allegations they would be excommunicated.

Cardinal Ratzinger was accused of being personally involved in cover ups and allegedly tried to convince victims of abuse that it wouldn't be 'prudent' to punish their abusers.

The allegations were presented to Pope Benedict XVI in 1998 when he was a cardinal. Some of the accusers said then-Cardinal Ratzinger attempted to cover up the case because of Maciel's prominence and close relationship with Pope John Paul II.

The then-Cardinal Ratzinger became visibly upset when asked about the Maciel case by ABC News' Brian Ross in April 2002.

"You do not ask such questions," he said and then slapped Ross's hand.

Doesn't forgiveness require true repentance?