I learned about the priest who molested 23 boys

Retired Pope Benedict XVI has made an unusual confession. Instead of sticking with a controversial refusal that he ignorant of the scores of predator priests who moved around German parishes when he was in charge of the Munich diocese, he now says he knows about at least one of them.

In a statement issued late last week to German media outlets and later Catholic News AgencyBenedict’s personal secretary Georg Gänswein managed to fix the record for the ailing former pope.

Gänswein admitted that Benedict had told independent investigators hired by the German Catholic Church that he had no recollection of having been shown to have attended the hearing on Father Peter Hullermann, an accused priest. forced to abuse at least 23 boys between the ages of 8 and 16. Gänswein said Benedict “will now want to make it clear that, contrary to what was stated in the hearing, he attended the regular meeting on 15 January 1980.” Hullermann went on to be accused of abuse. children until he was finally withdrawn from the active priesthood in 2010.

“The claim to the contrary is objectively incorrect,” Gänswein said in a statement about what the former pope told investigators. “He wanted to emphasize that this was not done for bad reasons, but as the result of an error in the editing of his statement. He will explain how this happened in the pending statement. He deeply regrets this mistake and apologizes for this mistake.”

Last week, the German law firm commissioned to investigate the German church found that prior to his election as pope, Joseph Ratzinger was directly involved in at least four cases of predatory priests he had consent to be reassigned with full knowledge of the many abuse allegations against them. Benedict led the diocese of Munich from 1977 to 1982, when he was appointed to the Holy See by his predecessor, Pope John Paul II, to head the Congregation for the Doctrine of the Faith.

But at the meeting in question, attendees who cooperated with the law firm’s investigation said Hullermann’s troubling situation was indeed discussed and it was decided that because he admitted to sexually abusing child, he will be given accommodation in Munich – under the direction of Ratzinger. —While he was receiving therapy. At the time, he was not removed from active parish duties or kept from children. That happened then – when he was transferred to a tourist parish in 2008, where he was described as “sociable and friendly – especially with young people”.

Gänswein sought to clarify Benedict’s position – when he erroneously told investigators he did not attend a meeting he had apparently attended – as an “editing error” on the subject. referring to the agenda of the meeting, rather than whether he was there or not. “However, objectively correct and documented by the records, is the statement that no decision was made at this meeting regarding the pastoral duties of the priest in question,” he said. . “Rather, there was only a request to accommodate him during his treatment in Munich.”

As it happened, a subordinate in the diocese of Munich, Monsignor Gerhard Gruber, continued to take all responsibility for Hullerman’s transfer. According to Gänswein, Benedict is now expected to clarify further, after he has reviewed the entire 1,900-page report by German investigators.

Benedict, 94, is the first pope in more than 400 years to retire in 2013. His successor, Pope Francis, has not publicly commented on the German church scandal. The Vatican press office has forwarded all inquiries to Gänswein.