the pope emeritus Benedict XVI asked for “sorry” this Tuesday by the sexual violence against children committed by the clergy, but denied having covered up for priests who committed these abuses.
In a letter made public by the Vaticanthree weeks after the publication of an independent report in Germany where he was accused Benedict XVI of inaction against abuses committed in the Archbishopric of Munichthe pope emeritus assured that he never covered up these attacks when he had “important responsibilities in the Catholic Church“.
“I can only express to all victims of sexual abuse my deep shame, my great pain and my sincere request for forgiveness,” the pope emeritus said.
“In all my meetings with victims of sexual abuse by priests (…) I have perceived in their eyes the consequences of a very great guilt and I have learned to understand that we ourselves fall into this great guilt when we neglect it or when we do not We face it with the necessary decision and responsibility, as has happened and happens too many times,” he assured in his letter.
“dismayed”
the cardinal Joseph Ratzinger He was Archbishop of Munich from 1977 to 1982, and Pope from 2005 to 2013.
“Greater is my pain for the abuses and errors that have occurred during the time of my mission in the respective places,” adds the pope emeritus, saying “dismayed.”
The report published in Germany on sexual abuse against minors in the archbishopric of Munich and Freising reproached the then Cardinal Ratzinger, who was informed of the attacks committed by a priest, Peter Hullerman.
In a document also made public by the Vatican on Tuesday, advisers to the pope emeritus reject the accusations expressed in the German report, which they have analyzed in detail. Benedict XVI thanks him for his help in drafting the response to the Munich law firm and in analyzing the thousands of pages of the report.
“When he was archbishop, Cardinal Ratzinger was not involved in attempts to hide abuses” nor was he “informed of attacks committed or allegedly committed by priests” say his advisers, estimating that the German report has “inaccurate” elements.
Disappointment of the victims
The public declaration of the pope emeritus did not convince the victims’ associations. The US group “Snap” lamented the “lack of frankness” of Benedict XVI, and maintains that he “wasted the opportunity” to redeem himself.
The German branch of the reformist group Wir sind kirchewhich brings together lay people and theologians, considers that the letter “does not add anything new. Ratzinger continues to present himself as a victim, who was “dragged into a big mistake””.
For the victims’ association Eckiger Tischthe Church recognizes “acts and faults, but nobody assumes concrete responsibilities”.
“We expected a request for forgiveness for the specific case of Munich”, because “despite everything, there is an objective responsibility”, for having been a bishop, the Italian Vatican expert Iacopo Scaramuzzi explained to AFP.
If “he did good things” against this phenomenon, since “he accepted criticism, established new norms, met with victims” and “was much more rigorous than John Paul II“, is wrong in the analysis by indicating that the problem comes from the sexual revolution.
“An open wound”
In late January, the pope emeritus rectified his statements to the report’s authors, acknowledging that he did participate in a crucial meeting in 1980 on alleged abuses by Peter Hullerman.
“This error, which unfortunately occurred, was not intentional and I hope it will be excused,” says the pope emeritus. “I was deeply affected that carelessness was used to doubt my veracity, and even present myself as a liar,” he adds, in his letter.
In the letter, the pope emeritus also thanks his successor, Francisco, for “the trust, support and prayers that he has expressed to me personally.”
Benedict XVI concludes the letter by referring to his own death.
“Very soon I will present myself before the final judge of my life. Although I may have many reasons for fear and fear when I look back on my long life, I nonetheless feel happy,” says the pope emeritus, who lives in retirement in a monastery in the Vatican and whose state of health is very delicate.
“The words of this letter are those of an impotent old man, who feels that his encounter with God is drawing near” and “invites the entire Church to feel the open wound of abuse as its own,” he says. Andrea Torniellian editorialist for the official media outlet Vatican News.
The German report cited 497 victims of abuse in Germany between 1945 and 2019, mostly young boys and teenagers, and some 235 alleged perpetrators, mostly priests. Following its publication, the Vatican expressed its “feeling of shame and remorse.