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 Read more
Posts Tagged ‘Cardinal Joseph Ratzinger’
Benedict’s apology disappoints and angers
Monday, February 14th, 2022
Retired Pope Benedict XVI’s lack of a personal apology or admission of guilt immediately riled sex abuse survivors. They said his response reflected the Catholic hierarchy’s “permanent” refusal to accept responsibility for the rape and sodomy of children by priests. Benedict’s letter received a lukewarm reception from bishops in Germany, while victims’ organisations expressed disappointment, Read more
Paraguay diocese says accused priest came with Ratzinger OK
Tuesday, August 5th, 2014A diocese in Paraguay says a priest accused of abuse in the United States was placed in ministry at then-Cardinal Ratzinger’s recommendation. Bishop Rogello Livieres Plano incardinated Fr Carlos Urrutigoty in Ciudad del Este diocese in 2005, where he was later appointed vicar-general. Recently the Vatican suspended ordinations to the priesthood in the diocese, following Read more
Has the ‘real Ratzinger’ come out to play?
Tuesday, May 1st, 2012
ROME — When Cardinal Joseph Ratzinger was elected to the papacy in April 2005, the popular forecast called for stormy weather ahead. This was, after all, the Vatican enforcer who had been leading a “smack-down on heresy since 1981”, in the words of T-shirts and coffee mugs marketed by a Ratzinger fan club. His rise elicited Read more