Benedict Faulted for Dealing with of Abuse Instances When He Was an Archbishop

ROME — A report launched on Thursday faulted Pope Emeritus Benedict XVI for what the authors known as misconduct in his dealing with of no less than 4 circumstances of sexual abuse by Roman Catholic clergymen when he was the archbishop of Munich, in accordance with the regulation agency that dealt with the investigation.

The report on the dealing with of clerical intercourse abuse of minors within the diocese of Munich and Freising lined the interval between 1945 and 2019. Benedict was archbishop of Munich and Freising from 1977 to 1982 and had oversight over the clerics.

“In a complete of 4 circumstances, we got here to the conclusion that the then-archbishop, Cardinal Ratzinger, might be accused of misconduct,” mentioned one of many authors of the report, Martin Pusch, referring to Benedict.

The regulation agency Westpfahl Spilker Wastl, which drafted the report commissioned by the archdiocese of Munich and Freising, mentioned that Benedict had firmly denied any wrongdoing.

The Vatican mentioned Thursday that it will learn and study the report in coming days and provides it “due consideration,” mentioned the Vatican spokesman, Matteo Bruni.

“In reiterating the sense of disgrace and regret for the abuse of minors dedicated by clerics, the Holy See ensures its closeness to all of the victims and confirms the trail taken to guard the little ones, guaranteeing them secure environments,” Mr. Bruni mentioned.

The report additionally accused different senior church figures within the archdiocese of Munich and Freising of mishandling sexual abuse circumstances.

Cardinal Reinhard Marx, who’s one in every of Pope Francis’ closest advisers and who has led the diocese since 2007, provided his resignation as head of the archdiocese final 12 months to take private duty for sexual abuse by clergymen over the previous a long time. However Pope Francis rejected his resignation.

The report recognized no less than 497 victims. Most have been boys, 60 p.c between the ages of 6 and 14. It recognized 235 abusers, together with clergymen, deacons and staff of Catholic faculties.

That is removed from the primary revelation of abuse in Germany. In 2018, a report commissioned by the church discovered that clergy had abused no less than 3,677 individuals within the nation between 1946 and 2014. Greater than half of the victims have been 13 or youthful. Nearly a 3rd of them had served as altar boys.