After an independent report criticised his behaviour in four cases while archbishop of Munich, Germany, retired Pope Benedict XVI requested pardon on Tuesday for any “grievous flaws” in his handling of clergy sex abuse cases, but admitted to no personal or particular wrongdoing.
“I HAVE HAD GREAT RESPONSIBILITIES IN THE CATHOLIC CHURCH. ALL THE GREATER IS MY PAIN FOR THE ABUSES AND THE ERRORS THAT OCCURRED IN THOSE DIFFERENT PLACES DURING THE TIME OF MY MANDATE,” THE RETIRED POPE SAID.
Benedict, 94, was responding to a report released on January 20 by a German legal company tasked by the German church with investigating how incidents of sexual abuse were handled in the Munich archdiocese between 1945 and 2019.
From 1977 to 1982, Benedict, the former Cardinal Joseph Ratzinger, headed the archdiocese.
The authors of the report criticised Benedict’s treatment of four incidents during his time as archbishop, accusing him of misconduct for failing to restrict the priests’ ministry even after they had been convicted criminally.
