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An investigation commissioned by the Archdiocese of Munich and Freising, Germany, on sexual abuse and published this January 20, accuses Pope Emeritus Benedict XVI of not taking action in at least four cases of pederasty, when he served as Archbishop of Munich. The Vatican expressed “shame” and “remorse” and said it will review the report.
Emeritus Pope Benedict XVI knew of at least four cases of sexual abuse against minors by clerics under his hierarchy when he served as archbishop of Munich and Freising between 1977 and 1982, and did nothing about it.
This is stated in the report of said Archdiocese, which commissioned a law firm to investigate hundreds of complaints of sexual assault, allegedly occurring within that institution between 1945 and 2019.
The document indicates that there were at least 497 victims, mainly young men, but the number could be even higher as investigators note that many other cases likely went unreported.
In a total of four cases, we reached a consensus that no action was taken
The lawyers had the task of finding out who knew what happened for decades in the Archdiocese and the measures they took. After the investigations, successive ecclesiastical hierarchies were blamed for not acting accordingly and even having covered up the crimes.
Attention was also focused on the now pontiff emeritus because he led that religious constituency for five years. When presenting the conclusions, the lawyer Martin Pusch assured that Joseph Razintger, name of origin of Benedict XVI, did not take action against the clerics involved in the cases that he would have known.
“In a total of four cases, we reached a consensus that no action was taken,” Pusch said.
In two of the cases attributed to the Ratzinger period against that archdiocese, the abuses were allegedly committed by two clergymen who provided spiritual assistance.
Although the team of lawyers also stressed that the German religious has “strictly” denied his responsibility in the accusations, they consider his response “little credible” and that in reality he would have had “no recognizable interest” in taking action.
Likewise, the investigators consider that Ratzinger had knowledge of the case of the parish priest identified as Peter H., who in 1980 was transferred from the bishopric of Essen to that of Munich after being accused of being a pedophile and that in his new destination he continued to commit abuses.
The Vatican expresses “shame” and “remorse” for abuses in the Archdiocese of Munich
In a statement that did not mention Benedict XVI, the Vatican said that “at the moment it does not know the content” of the report, but that it will fully evaluate it and examine every detail of it.
However, the headquarters of the Catholic Church ratified its speech of support for the victims.
“By reiterating a feeling of shame and remorse for the abuse of minors by the clergy, the Holy See assures its closeness to all the victims and confirms the path it has taken to protect the little ones and guarantee them a safe environment,” he said. spokesman for the institution, Matteo Bruni.
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.
The pederasty scandals have hit the Vatican in recent years with thousands of complaints against priests, bishops and collaborators in different countries.
On October 5, another report shook the foundations of the Catholic Church in France by revealing that at least 200,000 minors suffered sexual abuse from 1950 to 2000.
With Reuters and EFE
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