A church-commissioned report cast a shadow Thursday over the reputation of former Pope Benedict XVI, accusing him of doing nothing to prevent priests from committing child sexual abuse in the German archbishopric that he conducted in the 1980s.
Cardinal Joseph Ratzinger, before he became pope, took no steps to remove four clergymen suspected of child sexual abuse, lawyers from the law firm Westpfahl Spilker Wastl (WSW) claimed in this report.
In a statement sent to lawyers, the 94-year-old pope emeritus, who has lived in seclusion in the Vatican since his resignation in 2013, “strictly” rejects any responsibility, a position that experts do not consider “credible”, said the lawyer Martin Pusch.
Because in two cases, they were members of the clergy who had committed several assaults attested, including by the courts, he underlines. The two priests remained within the Church and nothing was done.
The authors say they are “convinced” that Bishop Ratzinger, who headed the archdiocese of Munich and Freising, was thus aware of the pedophile past of the priest Peter Hullermann. The latter had arrived in 1980 from North Rhine-Westphalia in Bavaria, where he committed abuse for decades without being worried.
In 1986, a Bavarian court sentenced him to a suspended prison sentence. But he was then transferred to another Bavarian city, where he would have reoffended. It will be necessary to wait until 2010 before he is forced into retirement.
Joseph Ratzinger denied knowing the past of this priest, whose case made headlines in 2010, at the time of the pontificate of Benedict XVI.
“Scary Phenomenon”
The report’s authors also singled out Cardinal Reinhard Marx, current archbishop of Munich and Freising, for being negligent in two cases of priests suspected of child molestation.
It was precisely Cardinal Marx who commissioned the report. He must speak briefly on his conclusions around 10:30 a.m., Montreal time.
Overall, lawyer Marion Wetspfahl denounced “the frightening phenomenon of systematic cover-ups” of cases of violence against minors between 1945 and 2019 – the period covered by the report – aimed above all “to protect the institution Church”.
“The consideration” of the victims “remains insufficient from many points of view, also after 2010”, when the first pedophilia scandals in the German church were revealed, added Mr. Pusch.
The Holy See has let it be known that it will take cognizance of the report, the content of which it does not yet know.
“By restating its feeling of shame and remorse for the violence against minors committed by clerics, the Holy See assures all the victims of its closeness and confirms the path it has taken to protect the little ones by guaranteeing them an environment sure,” said Matteo Bruni, director of the Holy See’s press office.
“Hollow Words”
The Munich investigation constitutes a new chapter in the elucidation of acts of pedophilia affecting the Catholic Church throughout the world.
In Germany, it remains the first confession, even if its faithful flee it en masse: they fell to 22.2 million in 2020, a reduction of 400,000 compared to 2019 and 2.5 million compared to 2010.
Four years ago, a report revealed that at least 3,677 children had been sexually assaulted since 1946 by more than a thousand German clergy. Most have never been sanctioned. Since then, each diocese has commissioned local surveys.
After an official apology, the Church has set compensation – deemed insufficient by the victims – of up to 50,000 euros per person, against 5,000 euros so far.
On Tuesday, Matthias Katsch, who heads the victims’ association Eckiger Tisch, again called for “appropriate compensation” instead of “empty words”.
It remains to be seen what consequences the revelations of the Munich lawyers will have.
Last year, the Archbishop of Hamburg Stefan Hesse, implicated for negligence in the treatment of cases of pedophilia in the diocese of Cologne where he had officiated, had submitted his resignation to Pope Francis, who refused it.
Bishop Marx had also resigned in June to “share responsibility for the catastrophe of sexual abuse committed”. There too, the pope declined.
The Vatican reacts
The Vatican reiterated Thursday its “feeling of shame and remorse” for the sexual violence committed by clerics on minors, after the publication of the report.
“By restating its feeling of shame and remorse for the violence against minors committed by clerics, the Holy See assures all the victims of its closeness and confirms the path it has taken to protect the little ones by guaranteeing them an environment sure,” Matteo Bruni, director of the Vatican press office, told reporters.
“The Holy See considers it necessary to give all the necessary attention to the document, the content of which it does not yet know. In the next few days, after it is published, he will become acquainted with it and will be able to properly study the details,” he said.