Pope Ratzinger has been investigated. The revelation of the prosecutor of Monaco. But…
You can’t make a bundle of all the grass. Pope Benedict XVI was one of the few popes to have fought against sexual abuse in the Catholic Church or at least like no pope before, even if the work to be done still remains profound. Sexual abuse in the clergy is a tragedy, given the extent of the problem in all countries. After the emergence of cases of pedophilia especially in the USA but also in Africa and the international success of the Boston Globe investigation, Ratzinger had to deal with the appearance of an avalanche.
We are always in the Church of Rome with its complexity, its millenary balances, between impulses, critical issues, visions, strategies, intrigues, flaws and dark sides.
It is news of these hours that German prosecutors have revealed that they have examined a large number of historical cases of sexual abuse by clergy in the Archdiocese of Munich. Cardinal Joseph Ratzinger was archbishop there from 1977 to 1982. The magistrates also investigated him on charges of being an accomplice to abuses for having hidden them. But later they abandoned the investigation due to lack of evidence that could lead to a real case.
However, Munich prosecutors have examined 45 stories of possible wrongdoing by church officials, which emerged from a report on how the Archdiocese handled abusive situations between 1945 and 2019. German news agency DPA placed the emphasis on 3 cases in particular, concerning some “executives” during the Ratzinger management. And as far as a law firm, the independent report WSW (Westpfahl Spilker Wastl) commissioned by the Archdiocese and published in January 2022 criticized his handling of 4 cases during his reign but no supporting evidence emerged.
The report weighs heavily on current and former officials, including Benedict XVI. Perhaps Joseph Ratzinger misbehaved as archbishop of Munich (1977-1982) but it doesn’t go beyond that. Moreover, the cases would be time-barred. It should be remembered that prescription is a principle of legal civilization in the relationship between citizen and authority, otherwise for single possible events the citizen would be investigated for life by the State and always under the discretion of its “shirts”.
Benedict, who died 10 years after his resignation from the papal throne, has asked forgiveness for any “serious faults” in his handling of cases of abuse, but has always denied any personal wrongdoing or specific cases.
The same fate of suspects had Cardinal Friedrich Wetter, Ratzinger’s successor in Munich, from 1982 to 2008 and Gerhard Gruber, former vicar general.
As for Wetter and Gruber, attention was focused on the so-called “case 26” of the abuse report: on a cleric convicted in 1962. Furthermore, the investigation had revealed the suspicion of two main crimes not yet statute barred. For Wetter, however, it could not be established that he was aware of the allegations of abuse and had left the priest in question on duty, and for Gruber it could not be said that he had deliberately contributed to the abuse.
In relation to “Case 26”, the archbishop’s office and the palace in Monaco were raided again in February this year. Based on witness statements, a “poison cabinet” with explosive documents was searched. “The search revealed that the so-called ‘poison cabinet’ had already been closed in 2011 and the documents it contained had been added to personnel files.”
The WSW report lists 235 alleged perpetrators from 1945 to 2019, including 173 priests. The number of victims would amount to 497. However, the number of unreported cases is probably much higher, the lawyers believe. From the point of view of the lawyers, 67 clerics they deserved a canonical sanction for “the high level of suspicion”. In 43 cases, however, this was not done. 40 of them continued to be employed in pastoral care, including 18 priests who had been convicted. In particular, there was a case in which the Archdiocese of Monaco renewed the pastoral duties of a priest despite his notorious past indicted for pedophilia.
#Ratzingers #honor #safe #pedophilia #Church #archived