The law firm that conducted a major investigation concluded on Thursday that ex-Pope Benedict XVI failed to stop four clergymen accused of child sex abuse in the Catholic Church in Munich.
The church assigned Lawyer Martin Pusch of Westpfahl Spilker Wastl to conduct the investigation. According to him, the ex-pontiff, who was the archbishop of Munich and Freising from 1977 to 1982, has “strictly” rejected any responsibility. Ex-pope Benedict, who stepped down as head of the global Roman Catholic church in 2013, has denied the allegations.
Experts, on the other hand, do not believe this to be true, he added.
According to Pusch, two of the cases included clergymen who had committed many acts of abuse yet were still legitimate to perform pastoral duties.
Benedict’s concern for the abuse victims was “not recognizable”, he claims.
In one case, a now-famous pedophile priest called Peter Hullermann was sent to Munich from Essen. He had accusations against him of sexually abusing an 11-year-old boy.
Despite his record, the church reassigned Hullermann to pastoral responsibilities.
Ex-pope Benedict also had allegations of assaulting more youngsters. He got a suspended prison sentence in 1986. By that time he had been sent to the Vatican.
Ex-pope Benedict: “I never tried to cover up these things”
He continued to work with children for many years after his sentence. His story is a relevant example of the Church’s mismanagement of abuse.
The ex-pope Benedict has denied knowing anything about the priest’s past. But the attorneys say they are now sure that this is not the case.
Pusch claimed that when replying to questions for the study, Ex-pope Benedict took a “defensive attitude”. He eventually reversed his attitude and issued a lengthy written statement.
“As far as you mentioning the moral abuse of minors by priests, I can only, as you know, acknowledge it with profound consternation. But I never tried to cover up these things.”
In two cases of alleged abuse, Cardinal Reinhard Marx, the present archbishop of Munich and Freising, was found to have neglected to act.