Always, 
I have long wondered what exactly Benedict had in mind with that utterance.  My fear is that he and his brother bishops were effectively writing off a pretty goodly chunk of the laity, and the comment by Benedict was far from "off the cuff..."  That fear would suggest that the bishops did some deep analysis, and figured out that they couldn't "hold" the laity without making some changes, and they CHOSE to not make those changes.  This scenario would seem to "fit" with the stubborn refusal by the bishops to take on personal accountability for their actions/inactions, no matter how heinous.  And IF this is what happened, I find it hard to believe this is Spirit-led.

IF, on the other hand, the comment was truly just an off the cuff statement, it seems awfully prophetic.