Benedict XVI as Archbishop in Germany was personally involved in the cover-up of a pedophile priest

It maybe easier for Benedict XVI to deny his involvement as the 5-star General of the John Paul II Pedophile Priests Army http://jp2army.blogspot.com/ when he was the Head of the Congregation for the Doctrine of the Faith in the Vatican during the 26 years papacy of John Paul II because all the documents are in Latin, Crimen Sollicitationis, De delictis gravioribus, Sacramentorum Sanctitatis Tutela see Benedict XVI then Cardinal Ratzinger in 2001 wrote "De delictis gravioribus" ("on more serious crimes") to all Bishops to cover-up pedophile priests http://pope-ratz.blogspot.com/2010/03/benedict-xvi-then-cardinal-ratzinger-in.html

The language of Latin can be a head-spinner, so Benedict XVI is introducing back into the Liturgy of the Mass see http://stella0maris.blogspot.com/

But now, what is a stronger head spinner is Benedict XVI’s direct involvement in the transfer of a German pedophile priest when he was only an Archbishop.

Josef Ratzinger may have had a humble beginning as Archbishop but he sure went up the ranks fast. His theological writings are impressive ======.

Christ said in Mark 4:22 “For everything that is hidden will eventually be brought into the open, and every secret will be brought to light”…now Benedict XVI’s secret is being brought to light. And it is no longer only the Catholics but the entire world is his court!

Go, Google and the Internet, show us all the secrets of Benedict XVI-Cardinal Josef Ratzinger, God’s Rottweiler and partner-in-crime of Satan in the John Paul II Pedophile Priests Army! See the John Paul II Millstone ======

Abuser priest accepted into pope's former diocese

GERMANY
The Irish Times
Derek Scally in Berlin
POPE BENEDICT has been linked for the first time to Germany’s growing clerical abuse scandal in a case dating back to his time as archbishop of Munich.
In 1980 the then Archbishop Ratzinger accepted into his diocese a priest convicted of sexual abuse of a minor in the western city of Essen.
A spokesman for the diocese of Munich and Freising admitted yesterday that the transfer was a “mistake” and confirmed that Archbishop Ratzinger was involved in the 1980 decision to accept the priest.

Pope named in new twist to German paedophile priest furore
GERMANY
Sydney Morning Herald
March 13, 2010

Pope Benedict XVI once helped get housing for a clergyman suspected of child sex abuse, it emerged on Friday, as the pontiff met the head of the Roman Catholic Church in Germany over a growing paedophile priest scandal.

Just hours after Archbishop Robert Zollitsch renewed an apology to victims of predator priests in Germany, Pope Benedict's former diocese of Munich confirmed a report that, as an archbishop in 1980, the pontiff approved housing for the priest, who was to undergo therapy.

The priest - identified only as H - had been accused of forcing an 11-year-old boy to perform oral sex, according to the Sueddeutsche Zeitung newspaper.

Benedict's involvement 'shows extent of cover-ups'

http://www.independent.ie/national-news/benedicts-involvement-shows-extent-of-coverups-2098356.html
IRELAND
Irish Indepndent
By Breda Heffernan
Saturday March 13 2010
Irish victims of clerical sex abuse said the involvement of Pope Benedict XVI in covering up for paedophile priests showed that the practice was endemic within the Catholic Church and said he should now consider his own position.


Andrew Madden, who was abused by a priest in the Dublin Archdiocese, said it appeared the Pope was doing the same thing as the archbishops of Dublin going back to John Charles McQuaid by not reporting clerics to the civil authorities.
"It goes some way to explaining why he has been very slow to act on the offers of resignation that are on his desk from the Irish bishops because the people who are offering to resign have done nothing he hasn't done himself," he said.
Another victim, Marie Collins, said the implication of the Pope in clerical sex scandals in Germany showed the practice of covering up for offenders and moving them on to different dioceses was "church-wide".


"It is just so familiar, it's the same type of behaviour we had with the hierarchy here. It sounds as though this is just how the church handled abusing priests -- it's not an Irish thing, it's a Catholic Church thing."

Pope Benedict's pastoral letter to Irish Catholics is on course, in spite of calls for the pontiff to delay it until after Easter to take account of the clerical child abuse scandals in Germany, Holland and Austria.

In Rome, German Cardinal Walter Kaspar, President of the Pontifical Council for Promotion of Christian Unity, suggested a delay when said the papal letter required "a much more general analysis" than merely the Irish situation.

But Archbishop of Dublin Diarmuid Martin said the Pope's letter to the faithful in Ireland "is still on course". There is speculation it will come out on St Patrick's Day. But more likely dates are Palm Sunday, March 28, or Holy Thursday, which is April 1.

Pope backed sex abuse priest transfer when archbishop

GERMANY
Washington Post
Reuters
Friday, March 12, 2010
BERLIN (Reuters) - Pope Benedict was involved in a decision to move a priest suspected of child abuse to his diocese for therapy when he was an archbishop in 1980, his former diocese in southern Germany said on Friday.

The priest was moved to the diocese of Munich and Freising in January 1980 at the request of the diocese of Essen, and still works in the southern district, the Munich diocese said.
"The then archbishop took part in this decision," said the Munich diocese, of which the pontiff -- then Joseph Ratzinger -- was archbishop from 1977 to 1981.

Church Abuse Scandal in Germany Edges Closer to Pope

EUROPE
The New York Times
By Nicholas Kulish and Rachel Donadio
Published: March 12, 2010

BERLIN — A widening child sexual abuse inquiry in Europe has landed at the doorstep of Pope Benedict XVI, as a senior church official acknowledged Friday that a German archdiocese made “serious mistakes” in handling an abuse case while the pope served as its archbishop.

The archdiocese said that a priest accused of molesting boys was given therapy in 1980 and later allowed to resume pastoral duties, before committing further abuses and being prosecuted. Pope Benedict, who at the time headed the Archdiocese of Munich and Freising, approved the priest’s transfer for therapy. A subordinate took full responsibility for allowing the priest to later resume pastoral work, the archdiocese said in a statement. The Vatican spokesman, the Rev. Federico Lombardi, said he had no comment beyond the statement by the Archdiocese of Munich and Freising, which he said showed the “nonresponsibility” of the pope in the matter.

The expanding abuse inquiry had come ever closer to Benedict as new accusations in Germany surfaced almost daily since the first reports in January. On Friday the pope met with the chief bishop of Germany, Archbishop Robert Zollitsch, the head of the German Bishops Conference, to discuss the church investigations and media reports.

Problems in the German church have already come close to the pope, whose brother, Msgr. Georg Ratzinger, 86, directed a choir connected to a boarding school where two former students have come forward with abuse claims. In an interview this week, Monsignor Ratzinger, who directed the choir from 1964 to 1994, said the accusations dated from before his tenure. He also apologized for slapping students. …http://www.nytimes.com/2010/03/13/world/europe/13pope.html

Pope knew priest was paedophile but allowed him to continue with ministry

http://www.timesonline.co.uk/tol/comment/faith/article7060406.ece
March 12, 2010
Richard Owen in Rome

The Pope was drawn directly into the Roman Catholic sex abuse scandal for the first time tonight as news emerged of his part in a decision to send a paedophile priest for therapy. The priest went on to reoffend and was convicted of child abuse but continues to work as priest in Upper Bavaria.

The priest was sent from Essen to Munich for “therapy” in 1980 when he was accused of forcing an 11-year-old boy to perform oral sex. The archdiocese confirmed that the Pope, then a cardinal, had approved a decision to accommodate the priest in a rectory while the therapy took place.

The priest, identified only as “H”, was subsequently convicted of sexually abusing minors after he was moved to pastoral work in nearby Grafing. In 1986 he was given an 18-month suspended prison sentence and fined 4,000 marks ($2,800 in today’s money). There have been no formal accusations against him since.

The church has been accused of a cover-up after at least 170 accusations of child abuse by German Catholic priests. The scandal broke in January but the claims, which continue to emerge, span three decades. Critics say that priests were redeployed to other parishes rather than fired when they were found to be abusing children.
The archdiocese of Munich and Freising said there had been no complaints against the priest during the therapy at a Church community in Munich. It said the decision to allow him to continue work in Grafing was taken by Gerhard Gruber, now 81, and then Vicar General of the archdiocese.

The Vatican noted in a statement that Monsignor Gruber had taken “full responsibility” for the priest’s move back into pastoral work but did not comment further.

Monsignor Gruber said the Pope, who was made a cardinal in 1977, had not been not aware of his decision because there were a thousand priests in the diocese at the time and he had left many decisions to lower level officials.

“The cardinal could not deal with everything,” he said. “The repeated employment of H in pastoral duties was a serious mistake... I deeply regret that this decision led to offences against youths. I apologise to all those who were harmed.”
However, he did not indicate whether the convicted paedophile would be allowed to continue working in the Church.

The Pope was Archbishop of Munich and Freising from 1977 to 1982, then moved to Rome as Prefect of the Congregation for the Doctrine of the Faith, a post he held until his election as pontiff five years ago after the death of John Paul II.

“H”, the priest, went on to work in an old people’s home for two years after his conviction then moved to the town of Garching where he became a curate and later a Church administrator. In May 2008 he was removed from his duties in Garching and was not allowed to work with your people, but he still works in the diocese, according to the newspaper Sueddeutsche Zeitung, which broke the story.

The head of Germany’s Catholic bishops had earlier today apologised to the victims of clerical sex abuse after meeting Pope Benedict, saying the German-born Pope had expressed “great dismay” over the scandals and had encouraged him to take “decisive and courageous steps” to tackle the problem and help the victims.

Monsignor Robert Zollitsch, Archbishop of Freiburg, said the German Church would investigate abuse allegations and take measures to prevent a recurrence. He said the Pope had been “deeply moved” by his report of sex abuse cases in Germany, and had praised the naming of a bishop to act as a clerical sex abuse “watchdog”.

However Archbishop Zollitsch noted that paedophilia was not confined to the Roman Catholic Church. Monsignor Gerhard Muller, the Bishop of Regensburg, insisted there was “not even a minimal link” between paedophilia and priestly celibacy, which would “not be modified”.

Before the meeting, Pope Benedict defended celibacy for priests as a sign of “full devotion” to God and the Catholic Church.
Speaking to delegates toat a conference on the priesthood, the Pope said celibacy was a “sacred value” for the Latin Church in the West and was also “held in great regard” by the Eastern Catholic church, which permits priests to be married.

SNAP Press Statement
For immediate release: Friday, March 12, 2010
Pope knew priest was paedophile but allowed him to continue with ministry; victims respond

Statement by David Clohessy of St. Louis, National Director of SNAP, Survivors Network of those Abused by Priests (314-566-9790)
Just a few short years ago discussing clergy sex crimes and cover-ups, Pope Benedict told the Irish bishops “it is important to establish the truth of what happened.” The pope is obviously ignoring his own advice. As a high-ranking church official for decades, if Ratzinger knew of one reassigned pedophile priest, the odds are he knows of others, possibly dozens. German secular authorities should do in Munich what Irish secular authorities did in Dublin: launch a thorough secular probe of clergy sex crimes and cover-ups. Other European governments should consider doing the same.


http://seattletimes.nwsource.com/html/nationworld/2011325034_apeuchurchabuse.html
Pope's former diocese admits error over priest

By GEIR MOULSON and NICOLE WINFIELD
Associated Press Writers

BERLIN — Pope Benedict XVI's former German diocese said Friday it made a mistake when the pontiff was archbishop in allowing a priest suspected to have abused a child to return to pastoral work. However, it said Benedict was unaware of the decision.

The chaplain was sent to Munich in 1980 for therapy, the Munich archdiocese said in a statement. The diocese says it was made aware of the case by the Munich-based daily Sueddeutsche Zeitung in Munich, which first reported on it.

The man, identified only as H., was allowed to stay in a vicarage while undergoing therapy - a decision in which then-Archbishop Joseph Ratzinger was involved, the statement said. It said officials believe it was known the therapy was related to suspected "sexual relations with boys."

However, it says a lower-ranking official - vicar general Gerhard Gruber - then allowed him to help in pastoral work in Munich.

The archdiocese says there were no accusations against the chaplain relating to his February 1980 to August 1982 spell in Munich. However, he was convicted of sexually abusing minors during a stint in nearby Grafing between September 1982 and 1985.
The conviction in 1986 resulted in an 18-month suspended prison sentence and a fine of 4,000 marks, now worth nearly $2,800, the archdiocese said.

Ratzinger was archbishop of Munich and Freising from 1977 to early 1982.

Gruber told The Associated Press by telephone Friday that he was in sole charge of staffing decisions.

"Personnel matters were delegated," Gruber said. "I decided that on my own."
Gruber also said Benedict would not have been aware of his decision because the case load was too big.

"You have to know that we had some 1,000 priests in the diocese at the time," Gruber said. "The cardinal could not deal with everything, he had to rely on his vicar general."
________________________________________
The Survivors Network of those Abused by Priests
________________________________________
SNAP Press Statement
For immediate release: Friday, March 12, 2010

Pope's former diocese admits error over priest; sex abuse victims respond

Statement by Barbara Blaine of Chicago, president and founder of SNAP, Survivors Network of those Abused by Priests (312-399-4747)

It boggles the mind to hear a German Catholic official claim that a credibly accused pedophile priest was re-assigned to parish work without the knowledge of his boss, then-Archbishop Joseph Ratzinger.

Off hand, we can’t think of a single case anywhere on the planet where a credibly accused predator priest was put back around kids and no one asked or told the top diocesan official – the bishop.

And no church official has ever claimed that a vicar general, as the AP reports, “was in sole charge of staffing decisions.”

Remember three facts:

-- For decades, priests have been in very short supply. Bishops keep very close tabs on their priests.

-- In the 1980s, relatively few pedophile priests were ousted and sent for treatment. It’s extremely unlikely that then-Archbishop Ratzinger would have had dozens of such men to keep track of.

-- The Catholic hierarchy is a tightly-structured, closely-knit institution, not a loosey-goosey hippie commune.

Given these facts, we find it extraordinarily hard to believe that Ratzinger didn’t re-assign the predator, or know about the re-assignment.

When vicar generals and auxiliary bishops become bishops, sometimes they are questioned about abuse cases in their home dioceses. Virtually without exception, they defend themselves by saying, “I was just an underling. The bishop handled such cases.” Now, suddenly, German church officials want us to believe that the Munich diocese operates completely differently.

Sadly, the claim that Archbishop Ratzinger “delegated” abuse to his diocesan underlings is sadly reminiscent of Cardinal Law’s identical, and later disproven claim.