I'm no fan of Ross Douthat, but his column in the Times (March 29) brings a welcome reality check to the frenzy over Benedict and the crisis. It begins:"During a frustrating argument with a Roman Catholic cardinal, Napoleon Bonaparte supposedly burst out: Your eminence, are you not aware that I have the power to destroy the Catholic Church? The cardinal, the anecdote goes, responded ruefully: Your majesty, we, the Catholic clergy, have done our best to destroy the church for the last 1,800 years. We have not succeeded, and neither will you.Douthat then exercises a Commonweal maneuver... on the one hand, on the other... all sides bear some responsibility for this.... http://www.nytimes.com/2010/03/29/opinion/29douthat.html?ref=opinion