The child sexual abuse scandal involving Catholic priests in Germany began to unfold early this year with one school in Berlin but now has expanded to nearly every archdiocese and has even touched the pope's brother, Georg Ratzinger. Now the scandal threatens to engulf Pope Benedict XVI for his actions, or inactions, when he served as Archbishop of Munich.
The New York Times has published the latest details on its Web site:
In Germany, a man who said he was sexually abused by a priest there in 1979 said Saturday that church officials had told him then that the priest would not be allowed to work with children again. Instead, the priest was allowed, under Benedict’s watch, to resume full duties almost immediately, where he went on to abuse more children.
This unfortunately has been the pattern of behavior for the church; the same thing happened over and over in the United States and Ireland. Rather than bringing the pedophile priests to justice, the church would cover up the crime and transfer the offending priest to another parish where he could resume his abuse.
So how has the Vatican reacted to these latest charges that reflect poorly on the Holy Father? By attacking the messenger:
As new details emerged on allegations of child sexual abuse by priests in the Munich archdiocese then led by Pope Benedict XVI, the Vatican spoke out on Saturday to protect the pope against what it called an aggressive campaign against him in his native Germany.
No expression of concern for the victims. No expression of remorse for the improper handling of these crimes. Rather, blame the media for a "witch hunt" against Benedict.
The Catholic Church in Germany is in total denial concerning the magnitude of the sexual abuse crisis. Bishop Mixa of Augsberg has placed the blame on the "hippies"and the sexual revolution of the 1960s. There is no open discussion on the possible role of the priestly celibacy requirement in fostering this destructive behavior by priests. In Regensburg, the archdiocese has taken legal action against a local blogger who dared to publish facts about abuse cases in that city involving priests.
This is the behavior of an institution in denial and in decline: blame others, silence the messenger, cover up the facts....