中国xiaokang.com, January 21 News Lao Ma A report triggered by sexual abuse allegations in the German Catholic Church accuses Pope Emeritus Benedict XVI of four acts of misconduct while he was archbishop of Munich and Freising from 1977 to 1982.
Former pope (back view) in the Holy See
dpa reported that Benedict - then known as Cardinal Joseph Ratzinger - denied any wrongdoing.
Critics have long accused Benedict of failing to take action against clergy abuse. They focused on the case of a priest from the western German state of North Rhine-Westphalia who allegedly abused boys on multiple occasions.
The priest relocated from North Rhine-Westphalia to Benedict's home state of Bavaria, where he was convicted of child abuse and is said to have relapsed into crime several times.
The case alone accounted for 370 pages of the report and was more than 1,700 pages long.
The study counted at least 497 victims. The majority were male children and teenagers who were targeted between 1945 and 2019, the law firm Westpfahl Spilker Wastl (WSW) announced in Munich. It prepared expert opinions on behalf of the archdiocese.
According to the study, there are at least 235 alleged perpetrators, including 173 priests and nine deacons.
However, many cases are believed to go unreported.
-
-
-
-
-
-
-
-
-
-
-
-
-
-
-
-