The public prosecutor’s office in Munich has officially closed a preliminary investigation into Benedict XVI concerning allegations that he covered up sexual abuse decades ago when he was cardinal-archbishop in the Bavarian capital.
The prosecutors closed the inquiry on March 21, saying they were unable to substantiate the accusations made against Cardinal Joseph Ratzinger in an independent report early last year due to lack of evidence or the statute of limitations.
Ratzinger, who was archbishop of Munich-Freising from 1977-82 before working in Rome and eventually becoming pope, was accused of making “bad decisions” regarding abusive priests in four cases of sexual abuse during his time in Bavaria.