Vatican defends Benedict after report faults abuse record

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The Vatican on Wednesday strongly defended Pope Benedict XVI’s record in fighting clergy sexual abuse and cautioned against looking for “easy scapegoats and summary judgments,” after an independent report faulted his handling of four cases of abuse when he was archbishop of Munich, Germany.

A German law firm released the lengthy report last week that had been commissioned by the German church to look into how cases of sexual abuse were handled in the archdiocese between 1945 and 2019. Pope Benedict XVI, the former Cardinal Joseph Ratzinger, headed the archdiocese from 1977 to 1982.

The report’s authors faulted Ratzinger’s handling of four cases during his time as archbishop … for allowing predator priests to remain in ministry. One documentation emerged showing that Ratzinger in 1985 dithered on a case of a convicted child molester in California delaying any action for two years. The case of the Rev. Stephen Kiesle was evidence that the Vatican strongly resisted letting priests leave active ministry, even if they were convicted rapists.

Through his secretary, the 94-year-old Benedict has said he would respond to the findings in due time. He has already acknowledged an error to the researchers about a 1980 meeting in which a pedophile priest’s transfer to Munich was discussed. The priest later received a suspended sentence for molesting a boy.

https://apnews.com/article/europe-religion-crime-germany-sexual-abuse-by-clergy-a7926c80e9af1a6c7688e3529231de82