In February 2013, Benedict XVI became the first pope in nearly 600 years to resign. In doing so, Joseph Ratzinger, the man who became Benedict, also relinquished a controversial religious career in which he was largely responsible for the Catholic Church's prodigious troubles: his scorched-earth assault on modernity and the world of ideas destroyed any hope of progress in the Church while leaving a trail of shattered lives in its wake. Daniel Gawthrop argues that Ratzinger must not be allowed diplomatic immunity from the abuse scandals.