Benedict XVI expresses sorrow but rejects all accusationsReport on sexual abuse in Munich diocese tries to implicate Benedict XVIIn the media, the reactions to the letter of Benedict XVI of February 8 The reactions of the Pope emeritus, with few exceptions, would almost certainly have been the same, whatever he wrote: from those who accuse him of using "tricks" to dismiss his "personal responsibility" (Georg Löwisch in the weekly "Die Zeit") to the theologian Doris Reisinger who calls the Pope's letter a "mockery for those affected" and criticizes Benedict's referring to Jesus as "friend", "brother" and "advocate", because "to the ears of those affected" that sounds as if Jesus "is not on their side, but on the side of those who have tormented, ignored and hurt them".
However, in "Der Spiegel", Thomas Fischer - a member between 2000 and 2017 of the German Supreme Court, and since 2013 its President - writes: "Since 1945, there have been seven archbishops in Munich. During that same time, seven bishops of Rome ruled the Church: Pius XII, John XXIII, Paul VI, John Paul I, John Paul II, Benedict XVI and Francis. And that is not counting the number of auxiliary bishops, vicars general and judicial vicars. Now, one of those mentioned has had to "apologize". He will soon be 95 years old and, by his own admission, he made a mistake in refusing to attend a meeting held 42 years ago. Predictably, that did him no good. He is required to apologize again, and again, and again. And, what's more, a full-fledged one.
More surprising are the reactions of precisely those bishops who demanded explanations from the Pope emeritus. The president of the DBK, Bishop Bätzing, merely wrote on Twitter, to express satisfaction with Benedict's letter and his apology to the victims of abuse. "The Pope emeritus had promised to speak and now he has done so. I thank him for it and he deserves respect for it."
For his part, the current Archbishop of Munich, Cardinal Reinhard Marx, made a brief statement welcoming the letter: "I am pleased that my predecessor as Archbishop of Munich and Freising, Pope Emeritus Benedict XVI, has commented on the publication of the opinion of the law firm WSW in a personal letter. However, he also emphasized that the report, "the results of which Benedict's lawyers doubt," is taken very seriously in the diocese.
On the other hand, Bishop Franz-Josef Overbeck of Essen has openly criticized the statement of the Pope emeritus: "I am afraid that the statement will not be of much help to those affected in dealing with their past. I am concerned that those affected by sexual violence have reacted with disappointment and partly with indignation to the former Pope's statements about his time as Archbishop of Munich and Freising." Other bishops, such as Bishop Franz Jung of Würzburg and Bishop Bertram Meier of Augsburg, declined to comment when asked by the DPA press agency.
And the President of the ZdK says that the statement "lacks empathy for those affected", so that "Pope Benedict's second reaction is unfortunately not convincing".
In the meantime, bishops from other European countries have also spoken out: Cardinal Dominik Duka, Archbishop of Prague, is critical of the preparation of a report on sexual abuse by a law firm; the events connected with it have caused him "astonishment and shame". Specifically, he referred to the case of the priest "H.": in 1980, "according to the canon law then and now in force," the Archbishop of Munich had no authority over a priest coming from the diocese of Essen. Nor could he refuse to have him transferred to Munich for psychiatric treatment: "If he had refused the possibility of such a priest being treated, his behavior would have been inhuman and unchristian".
For his part, the bishop of Fréjus-Toulon, in the south of France, Msgr. Dominique Rey, describes as "unjust" the treatment being given to Pope Emeritus Benedict XVI. "It is even slanderous not to recognize that Benedict XVI has played a decisive role in improving the treatment of sexual crimes in the Church. Benedict tirelessly reminded us of the need to repent, to purify the Church and to learn to forgive," although he always made it clear that forgiveness is no substitute for justice. "As a pioneer in the fight against abuse, Benedict XVI took it upon himself, in word and deed, to bring about in the Church a greater awareness of the evil of sexual abuse."
The mostly accusatory reactions - almost all of them without adhering to the facts refuted in the study of Benedict's advisors - demanding a "full-fledged" confession of personal guilt has led Bishop Georg Gänswein to speak out - in an interview with the Italian newspaper Corriere della Sera- of a "campaign" against the Pope emeritus. "There is a current that really wants to destroy his person and his work", a current that "has never loved him, his theology or his pontificate" and many are fooled by this "cowardly attack". Those who know Benedict - he continued - know that "the accusation that he lied is absurd"; one must know "how to distinguish between an error and a lie".
For his part, Pope Francis - at Wednesday's general audience - thanked Benedict XVI for his words on his approaching death. He recalled that the Pope emeritus had recently spoken of being "at the dark door of death". He added: "It is beautiful to thank the Pope who, at 95, is still so lucid. It was wonderful advice that Benedict gave. "Christian faith does not dispel the fear of death," Francis said, but "only through faith in the resurrection can we face the abyss of death without being overwhelmed by fear.
The precedents
In the presentation -on January 20- of the report on sexual abuse committed in the diocese of Munich-Freising between 1945 and 2019, prepared by the law firm Westpfahl Spilker Wastl (WSW) on behalf of the diocese, Benedict XVI was accused of "not having reacted adequately or in accordance with the norms to cases of (alleged) abuse that had come to his attention" in four cases; special attention was given to the case of a priest "H." -to which a special volume of more than 350 pages was devoted. In particular, the report reproached the Pope emeritus for the fact that, in his answer to the questions put to him by WSW's lawyers in preparing the report, Benedict had replied that he was not present at a certain meeting of the diocesan curia on January 15, 1980, at which it was a question of accommodating the priest, since he was moving from Essen to Munich for psychiatric treatment. However, the lawyers presented evidence that he had been present.
Immediately afterwards, voices were raised demanding explanations from the Pope emeritus, including those of several bishops such as the President of the German Bishops' Conference (DBK), Bishop Georg Bätzing, the person in charge of abuse at the DBK, Bishop Stefan Ackermann ("For many believers, it is difficult to understand and to endure that even a former Pope is accused of serious misconduct"). Stefan Ackermann ("for many believers it is difficult to understand and to bear that even a former Pope is accused of serious misconduct"), as well as the Bishop of Mainz, Bishop Peter Kohlgraf, and the Central Committee of German Catholics ZdK, whose President Irme Stetter-Karp called it "shameful" that Benedict XVI "did not admit to improper behavior".
On January 24, the Pope emeritus' secretary, Msgr. Georg Gänswein, issued a statement correcting the information: "Benedict wishes to clarify that, contrary to what he stated in response to the lawyers' questions, he did participate in the curia meeting of January 15, 1980". Furthermore, the Pope Emeritus "wishes to emphasize that the objectively erroneous statement was not made with malice, but was an oversight in the editing of his statement."
Bishop Gänswein announced that Benedict XVI would make a lengthy statement explaining how this mistake in the wording could have occurred. This happened with a letter from the Pope Emeritus himself on February 8, accompanied by a report prepared by four collaborators - three specialists in canon law, as well as another lawyer - in which they explained in great detail how the "transcription error" had occurred; They also refuted the other accusations point by point and, based on the answer given by one of the WSW lawyers to a journalist's question, made it clear that they had no proof of any "guilt" of the then Cardinal Ratzinger, but that their accusations were based on assumptions of probability.
