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Pope Emeritus Benedict XVI apologized this February 8 to the victims of sexual abuse within the Catholic Church, after a report in January accused the religious of not taking action in at least four cases of pederasty when he served as archbishop from Munich. However, Joseph Ratzinger denied that he covered up the cases as the investigation suggested.
Emeritus Pope Benedict XVI acknowledged that there were “mistakes” in handling sexual assault cases when he was archbishop of Munich and apologized, but stressed that he did not commit any crime.
“I have come to understand that we ourselves fall into this serious fault every time we neglect it or do not face it with the necessary decision and responsibility, as it happened and continues to happen too often,” said the hierarch.
“Once again I can only express to all victims of sexual abuse my deep shame, my deep pain and my heartfelt request for forgiveness,” the pontiff said in a letter released by the Vatican on February 8.
This is an expected response after the January 20 release of a report from an investigation commissioned by the Archdiocese of Munich into hundreds of complaints of sexual assault that occurred within that institution between 1945 and 2019.
The report concluded that Benedict XVI had knowledge of at least four cases of abuse against minors, committed by religious under his hierarchy when he served as archbishop of Munich and Freising between 1977 and 1982, and did nothing about it.
The report’s authors accused Josep Ratzinger, the religious leader’s given name, of failing to punish or expose the accused priests, even after they were criminally convicted.
It was “deeply painful” to be called a liar
A separate analysis by four legal experts commissioned by Ratzinger disputed the specific allegations against him. The lawyers indicated that the investigators had misrepresented the actions and ignored the facts.
“As archbishop, Cardinal Ratzinger was not involved in any cover-up of acts of abuse,” emphasized a second letter released by the advisory group.
Shortly after the Archdiocese of Munich report was issued, Benedict XVI acknowledged that he was at a meeting in 1980 about a sexual abuse case when he was archbishop of that city and that he mistakenly told investigators that he was not present at the meeting. that encounter.
The pope emeritus’s personal secretary, Archbishop Georg Ganswein, said the omission was the result of an oversight in editing the 82-page testimonies he sent to investigators, but that it was not an act of bad faith.
“It was deeply painful for me that this oversight was used to cast doubt on my veracity and even to label me a liar,” the former Vatican official said.
According to the Munich Catholic Church study, at least 497 minors were victims of abuse between 1945 and 2019, and around 235 alleged perpetrators were found.
Benedict XVI, 94, has lived in the Vatican since he resigned as pontiff in 2013 and was succeeded by Argentine Jorge Bergoglio, who chose the name Francis for his pontificate.
With Reuters and EFE