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Ex-Pope Benedict XVI knew about child sex abuse – report
A report into sexual abuse in the German diocese of Munich has accused
former Pope Benedict XVI of failing to prevent wrongdoings by clerics
An inquest announced on Thursday found former Pope Benedict XVI had failed to prevent abuse by clerics during his tenure as Archbishop of Munich.
Benedict has repeatedly refuted allegations that he was aware of abuse claims in the 1970s and ‘80s, stating in 2013 that he “never tried to cover up these things.” However, lawyers have rejected this denial, arguing that they believe he was aware of the actions of priests but “the church didn’t do anything.”
In a damning assessment, the report states that “then-Archbishop Cardinal Ratzinger can be accused of misconduct” over the handling of four cases, after examining how the church dealt with abuse allegations between 1945 and 2019.
“During his time in office there were abuse cases happening … He claims that he didn't know about certain facts, although we believe that this is not so, according to what we know,” one of the lawyers said.
The inquest cited a copy of the minutes of a meeting of Munich church leaders on January 15, 1980. According to the report, the meeting was convened to discuss allegations against a cleric named only as ‘Priest X.’ The lawyers investigating stated they were “surprised” by Benedict’s denial, as the minutes show he was in attendance.
Munich’s current Archbishop, Cardinal Reinhard Marx, an ally of Pope Francis, said the lawyers who produced the inquest had informed church officials ahead of the report’s publication.
Despite not being implicated in the allegations, last year, Marx offered to resign over the church’s “catastrophic” handling of abuse cases, but Pope Francis rejected his offer. Marx did not attend the presentation of the report on Thursday, in a move that the lawyers said they regret.
It's easy to forget something that happened 30 years ago, especially if that something is not very important to you. On the other hand, if he is deliberately lying about it, what does that tell you? There is no place for liars in Eternity with God!
Ex-pope to be investigated over failure to prevent sexual abuse
Former Pope Benedict XVI and two other German cardinals have been accused
of misconduct in a new report about clerical abuse
in Munich. January 20, 2022. © AFP / Christof Stache
German prosecutors have launched investigations into 42 cases of alleged misconduct by senior Catholic clergymen in the country, including former Pope Benedict XVI, following the release of a bombshell report on child sexual abuse in the archdiocese of Munich and Freising.
The report, which was released on Thursday, accused the former pontiff of failing to prevent abuse by clerics during his tenure as Archbishop of Munich and Freising between 1977 and 1982. Then known as Cardinal Joseph Ratzinger, his alleged misconduct is in connection with four cases of abuse.
Benedict is one of three German cardinals accused of direct and personal misconduct in the report, which identified nearly 500 victims of sexual abuse and 235 alleged perpetrators dating between 1945 and 2019. His immediate successor in the archdiocese, Cardinal Friedrich Wetter, has been linked to 21 instances of potential misconduct, while the current archbishop, Cardinal Reinhard Marx, is accused of formal misconduct in two cases.
The Munich public prosecutor’s investigations “exclusively concern church officials who are still alive,” Anne Leiding, the prosecutor’s office spokesperson, told the dpa news agency. She added that the report’s findings had been “transmitted in a strictly anonymized format.”
If “suspicions arise with regard to potentially criminally relevant behavior on the part of the church leaders in charge,” Leiding said the relevant documents would be requested from the Westpfahl Spilker Wastl law firm that was commissioned by the archdiocese to compile the report. If necessary, they will then be passed on to the respective prosecutor’s offices.
Following the revelations, Pope Francis on Friday pledged “justice” to victims of abuse at the hands of Catholic church members. However, he did not mention the report in his address.
Benedict has long denied accusations by critics of failing to act on abuse, but the lawyers who prepared the report countered some of his claims. While some in the Catholic Church hierarchy have reportedly called on Benedict to “take a stand,” his supporters, including Cardinal Gerhard Ludwig Muller, have apparently said that he “did not knowingly do anything wrong” and implied that the former pontiff was being targeted for his orthodox stance on religious doctrine.
Meanwhile, federal government spokesperson Christiane Hoffmann said it had been “stunned” by “the extent of abuse and subsequent handling of these acts” in the report, adding that a “full clarification and reappraisal” was “now all the more urgent.”
Yes!
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