Benedict XVI asks abuse survivors for forgiveness as advisers defend handling of Munich cases

Pope emeritus Benedict XVI. / Paul Badde/CNA. Vatican City, Feb 8, 2022 / 05:00 am (CNA). Pope emeritus Benedict XVI personally requested forgiveness from abuse survivors on Tuesday in a letter responding to a report that faulted his handling of cases during his tenure as Munich archbishop from 1977 to 1982.In an almost 1,000-word letter released on Feb. 8, the 94-year-old retired pope said that his pain was all the greater as he had “borne great responsibility in the Catholic Church,” reported CNA Deutsch, CNA’s German-language news partner. The letter was accompanied by a three-page rebuttal of the criticisms contained in the Munich abuse report, published last month, signed by four advisers of the pope emeritus. They insisted that he was not “aware of sexual abuse committed or suspicion of sexual abuse committed by priests” in any of the cases mentioned in the report. They also said that he “did not lie or knowingly make a false statement” regarding his presence at a disputed meeting in 1980 concerning the transfer of a priest accused of abuse to the Munich archdiocese. A ‘heartfelt request for forgiveness’In his letter, Benedict XVI noted that the celebration of Mass begins with a Penitential Act in which Catholics ask God’s forgiveness, confessing that they have greatly sinned “through my fault, through my fault, through my most grievous fault.”“In all my meetings, especially during my many apostolic journeys, with victims of sexual abuse by priests, I have seen at first hand the effects of a most grievous fault,” he wrote in the letter dated Feb. 6.“And I have come to understand that we ourselves are drawn into this grievous fault whenever we neglect it or fail to confront it with the necessary decisiveness and responsibility, as too often happened and continues to happen.”“As in those meetings, once again I can only express to all the victims of sexual abuse my profound shame, my deep sorrow and my heartfelt request for forgiveness.” “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.” “Each individual case of sexual abuse is appalling and irreparable. The victims of sexual abuse have my deepest sympathy and I feel great sorrow for each individual case.”Accusations of misconductBenedict XVI was writing in the wake of a study, entitled “Report on the Sexual Abuse of Minors and Vulnerable Adults by Clerics, as well as [other] Employees, in the Archdiocese of Munich and Freising from 1945 to 2019,” unveiled at a press conference in Munich, southern Germany, on Jan. 20.The more than 1,000-page report, compiled by the Munich law firm Westpfahl Spilker Wastl, identified at least 497 victims of abuse, as well as 235 alleged perpetrators, including 173 priests, during the 74-year period.Benedict XVI signed an 82-page statement that was submitted to researchers compiling the report.Speaking at the report’s launch, lawyer Martin Pusch asserted that Benedict XVI, then known as Cardinal Joseph Ratzinger, “can be accused of misconduct” in four cases.He said that in two of the cases, clerics committed abuse while Ratzinger was in office. While they were criminally sanctioned by secular courts, they continued to perform pastoral duties, he said, and no action was taken against them under canon law.In a third case, a cleric convicted by a foreign court worked in the Munich archdiocese. Pusch suggested that Ratzinger knew of the priest’s history.The fourth case related to a priest named Father Peter Hullermann, who is accused of abusing at least 23 boys aged eight to 16 between 1973 and 1996.The case was first highlighted by the media in 2010, when Benedict XVI was pope, and again in January.The 82-page statement signed by the retired pope insisted that he was not present at a meeting in 1980 at which the priest’s transfer from the Diocese of Essen to the Munich archdiocese was discussed.But days after the report’s publication, the pope emeritus acknowledged that he had attended the meeting. In a Jan. 24 statement, he indicated that the mistake was the result of an editing error.The correction prompted uproar in Germany, with critics of Benedict XVI accusing him of covering up his presence at the meeting and supporters pointing out that his attendance was already a matter of public record.German Church leaders, including bishops’ conference president Bishop Georg Bätzing, demanded that the retired pope respond to the Munich study’s criticisms. Support from Pope FrancisIn his letter, Benedict XVI said that he was deeply affected by the response to “the oversight,” which he said had been “exploited to cast doubt on my truthfulness, even to portray me as a liar.”He said he had also received many messages of support and was “particularly grateful for the confidence, support and prayer that Pope Francis personally expressed to me.”He underlined his continuing trust in the advisers