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Update: Benedict XVI responds to German abuse report

Update: Benedict XVI responds to German abuse report

FromInside The Vatican


Update: Benedict XVI responds to German abuse report

FromInside The Vatican

ratings:
Length:
4 minutes
Released:
Feb 8, 2022
Format:
Podcast episode

Description

Pope Emeritus Benedict XVI has responded to accusations that he mishandled four cases of clerical sexual abuse when he was archbishop of Munich and Freising. His response came 20 days after a German law firm released its investigation into how abuse cases in the diocese were handled over a 74-year period. Benedict’s response today is brief, 1.5 pages, most of it dedicated to asking for forgiveness.

While Benedict apologizes for abuse that happened on his watch, he does not take personal responsibility for any specific cases. He thanks those who have supported him, including Pope Francis, and discloses that his 82-page testimony to the investigators was prepared with the help of four lawyer friends.

The letter is also accompanied by a statement from his legal advisors. In the three-page statement, the lawyers take responsibility for a factual error in the testimony, in which they wrote that Benedict did not attend a 1980 meeting where an abuse case was discussed. They also take responsibility for one of the most criticized arguments in Benedict’s testimony—that a priest who exposed himself to minors was not committing abuse because he did not physically touch them.

For more on this story, visit americamagazine.org.

Links from the show:
Pope Benedict asks for forgiveness in a ‘confession’ responding to Munich sex abuse report
Read: Pope Benedict XVI’s penitential letter on Munich sexual abuse report

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Released:
Feb 8, 2022
Format:
Podcast episode

Titles in the series (100)

Each week, Colleen Dulle goes behind the headlines of the biggest Vatican news stories with America’s Rome correspondent Gerard O’Connell. They'll break down complicated news stories that have a whole lot of history behind them in an understandable, engaging way. Colleen and Gerard will give you the inside scoop on what people inside the Vatican are thinking, saying—and planning.