VATICAN CITY. After the report on the abuses in the archdiocese of Munich and Freising, Benedict XVI wrote a letter after an examination of conscience “as a Christian who was the head of the Church”, explain Oltretevere. He says he feels shame and pain for the pedophilia of the clergy, and asks for forgiveness ». But on the cover-ups of which he is accused, which the experts of him in a text attached to the letter deny in an articulate way, he assures that he is not a “liar”.
He begins by saying that «following the presentation of the report on the abuses in the archdiocese of Munich and Freising on January 20, 2022, I would like to address a personal word to all of you. In fact, even if I was able to be archbishop of Munich and Freising for a little less than five years, my deep belonging to the archdiocese of Munich as my homeland still persists in my heart ». The Pope Emeritus first of all wants to express “a word of cordial thanks. In these days of self-examination and reflection I have been able to experience so much encouragement, so much friendship and so many signs of trust than I could have imagined. I would like to thank in particular the small group of friends who, with self-denial, compiled my 82-page memoir for the Munich law firm, which I could not have written by myself ». In addition to the answers to the questions “posed to me by the law firm, there was the reading and analysis of almost 8,000 pages of documents in digital format. These collaborators then also helped me to study and analyze the almost 2,000-page report ».
In the «gigantic work of those days – the elaboration of the position – an oversight occurred regarding my participation in the meeting of the Ordinariate of January 15, 1980. This error, which unfortunately occurred, was not intentionally wanted and I hope be excusable ». The Pontiff emeritus has already ordered “that Archbishop Gänswein should communicate it in the press statement of January 24, 2022. It does not detract from the care and dedication that were and are an obvious absolute imperative for those friends”. Joseph Ratzinger was “deeply impressed that the oversight was used to doubt my truthfulness, and even to present me as a liar. I was all the more moved by the various expressions of trust, the cordial testimonies and the moving letters of encouragement that I received from so many people ». He is particularly grateful “for the trust, support and prayers that Pope Francis has personally expressed to me. Finally, I would like to thank the small family in the Mater Ecclesiae Monastery whose communion of life in happy and difficult hours gives me that inner solidity that sustains me ».
It is now necessary to follow the words of thanks to a confession. It strikes me ever more strongly that day after day the Church places at the beginning of the celebration of the Holy Mass – in which the Lord gives us the Word of him and himself – the confession of our guilt and the request for forgiveness. Let us pray to the living God publicly to forgive our fault, our great and very great fault ”. Benedict XVI observes: «It is clear that the word ‘very great’ does not refer in the same way to every day, to every single day. But every day he asks me if even today I shouldn’t talk about very great guilt. And he consolingly tells me that no matter how great my guilt may be today, the Lord forgives me, if I sincerely let myself be scrutinized by him and am really willing to change myself “.
In all “my encounters, especially during the many apostolic journeys, with the victims of sexual abuse by priests, I have looked into the eyes of the consequences of a very great guilt and I have learned to understand that we ourselves are drawn into this very great guilt when we neglect it or when we do not face it with the necessary decision and responsibility, as has too often happened and still happens “. As in those interviews, “once again I can only express my deep shame, my great pain and my sincere request for forgiveness towards all the victims of sexual abuse.”
He stresses that “I have had great responsibilities in the Catholic Church. All the greater is my grief for the abuses and errors that occurred during the time of my mandate in the respective places. Every single case of sexual abuse is terrible and irreparable. My deep compassion goes to the victims of sexual abuse and I regret every single case. “
More and more “I understand the disgust and fear that Christ experienced on the Mount of Olives when he saw all that was terrible he would have to overcome within. That at that moment the disciples were asleep unfortunately represents the situation that is happening again today and for which I too feel called upon ”. And so “I can only pray to the Lord and beg all the angels and saints and you, dear sisters and brothers, to pray to the Lord our God for me”.
He says that “I will soon find myself facing the ultimate judge of my life. Even if in looking back on my long life I can have a lot of fright and fear, I am still with a happy heart because I firmly trust that the Lord is not only the right judge, but at the same time the friend and brother who already has he himself suffered from my shortcomings and therefore, as judge, he is at the same time my advocate (Paraclete) ». In view of the hour “of judgment, the grace of being a Christian becomes clear to me. Being a Christian gives me knowledge, moreover, friendship with the judge of my life and allows me to pass through the dark door of death with confidence ”. In this regard, “what John tells at the beginning of the Apocalypse constantly comes to mind: he sees the Son of man in all his greatness and falls at his feet as dead. But he, placing his right hand on him, says to him: “Don’t be afraid… it’s me!” ».
In the analysis of the facts carried out by the collaborators of Benedict XVI – Stefan Mückl, Rome (Canon law); Helmuth Pree and Ludwig-Maximilians-Universität, Munich (Canon Law); Stefan Korta, Buchloe (Canon law), Carsten Brennecke, Cologne (Right to freedom of expression) – we read that “Ratzinger, contrary to what he claimed in the memorandum drawn up in response to the experts, was present at the meeting of the Ordinariate of January 15, 1980 in which he spoke of priest X. It is claimed that Cardinal Ratzinger would have employed this priest in pastoral activity, despite being aware of the abuses committed by him, and thereby would have covered up his sexual abuses “. But this “does not correspond to the truth: Ratzinger was not aware either of the fact that priest X was an abuser, or that he was included in the pastoral activity”. The documents “show that in the meeting of the Ordinariate of January 15, 1980, the use of priest X for a pastoral activity was not decided. The records also show that in the meeting in question it was not a question of the fact that the priest had committed sexual abuse. It was exclusively a question of the accommodation of the young priest X in Munich, because there he had to undergo therapy. He responded to this request. The reason for the therapy was not mentioned during the meeting. In the meeting, therefore, it was not decided to employ the abuser in any pastoral activity ».
In the report on the abuses of the archdiocese of Munich and Freising, it is then stated that «with regard to his presence at the meeting of the Ordinariate of January 15, 1980, Benedict XVI knowingly deposed the false, he lied. This – the experts write – is not true, in fact: the statement contained in the memory of Benedict XVI that he did not take part in the meeting of the Ordinariate of January 15, 1980 is actually wrong. However, Benedict XVI did not lie or knowingly put down the false: in the drafting of the memoir Benedict XVI this fact was supported by a group of collaborators. It is composed of the lawyer Dr. Carsten Brennecke (Cologne) and the following collaborators for ecclesiastical law: Prof. Dr. Dr. Stefan Mückl (Rome), who on behalf of Benedict XVI examined the documents, Prof. Dr. . Dr. Helmuth Pree and Dr. Stefan Korta “.
The collaborators were called because “Benedict XVI alone could not analyze the mass of questions in a short time and because the law firm in charge of the appraisal asked questions that referred to canon law, so that for the answer it was necessary to have a classification in canon law . Only Prof. Mückl was allowed to view the documents in electronic version, without being granted the possibility of storing, printing or photocopying documents. None of the other collaborators were allowed to view the documents ». After the reading of the documents in digital format (8,000 pages) and their analysis by Prof. Mückl, a further phase of elaboration followed by Dr. Korta, who inadvertently committed a transcription error. Dr. Korta incorrectly wrote that Joseph Ratzinger was not present at the meeting of the Ordinariate of January 15, 1980. The collaborators therefore – they explain – missed this error: having written about absence where there had not been. They trusted a false indication, inserted by mistake, by failing to ask Benedict XVI explicitly if he had been present at that meeting. On the basis of the erroneous transcription of the verbalization, it was assumed instead that Joseph Ratzinger was not present. Although he was required to verify what was presented on the basis of his own memory, Benedict XVI did not notice the error due to the limited times imposed by the experts, and he trusted what was written, and therefore his absence was recorded in the minutes ” .
Ultimately, “this transcription error cannot be attributed to Benedict XVI as a false conscious deposition or ‘lie’. Moreover, it would have made no sense that Benedict intentionally denied his presence at the meeting: in fact, the minutes of the meeting contain statements by Joseph Ratzinger “.
The dossier claims that “Benedict XVI had erroneous behavior in three other cases. In fact, even in these cases he would have known that the priests were abusers. This is not true, according to our verifications in fact in none of the cases analyzed by the report – the experts reiterate – Joseph Ratzinger was aware of sexual abuse committed or of the suspicion of sexual abuse committed by priests. The appraisal does not provide any evidence to the contrary “. With regard to the case of priest “X, publicly discussed in the meeting of the Ordinariate of 1980 as regards the accommodation to be given to him for therapy, the same expert – during the press conference of 20.01.2022, on the occasion of the presentation of the report on the abuses – he stated that there is no evidence that Joseph Ratzinger was aware of it. When asked by a reporter whether the experts were able to prove that Joseph Ratzinger was aware that Priest X had committed sexual abuse, the expert clearly stated that there is no evidence that Joseph Ratzinger was aware of it. “.
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