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	Papal Meeting Set to Bring Scandal Closer to Vatican By Paddy Agnew American Chronicle March 12, 2010 http://www.americanchronicle.com/articles/yb/142385828 IT IS not often that a routine visit to Rome by the president of the German Bishops' Conference attracts international media interest but that will be the case this morning when the Archbishop of Freiburg, Robert Zollitsch, has a Vatican audience with Pope Benedict XVI. The archbishop's meeting, scheduled some time ago, has assumed unexpected significance, primarily because of the burgeoning German clerical child abuse crisis, details of which first became public last month. From the moment reports of the German crisis emerged, there was little doubt they would seriously shake a Church already rocked by the much-documented sex abuse crises in North American and, of course, Ireland. In recent weeks, not only has the German crisis seemed to spread and develop on an almost daily basis but the Church has also been hit by the decision of Catholic bishops in the Netherlands to set up an enquiry to look into more than 200 alleged cases of clerical sex abuse. Initially, the German crisis involved elite Jesuit boarding schools in Berlin, Hamburg and Bonn. However, last week the crisis moved much closer to the pope himself when the diocese of Regensburg reported that there had been cases of sexual abuse in the Regensburger Domspatzen choir which, from 1964 to 1994, was directed by the pope's brother, 86-year-old Mgr Georg Ratzinger. Although the cases of abuse are believed to have happened in 1958 and 1959, Mgr Ratzinger still felt obliged to tell Bavarian public TV that he had no knowledge of abuse in the choir. In a later interview, Mgr Ratzinger probably did little to help either himself or his younger brother when admitting that, during his time as choirmaster, he had slapped pupils as a punishment. He also said he was aware of allegations of physical abuse at an elementary school linked to the choir but did nothing about it. For the pope, there is now the unpleasant situation that the German abuse crisis is getting too close for comfort. Prior to being appointed head of the Vatican's Congregation for the Doctrine of the Faith in 1982, the pope served as archbishop of Munich for five years. This week, German church officials said that they would examine what, if anything, Pope Benedict knew about any abuse cases during his time as Munich archbishop. In such a context, the last week has also been marked by a series of remarkable statements. For a start, writing in his archdiocese magazine, the archbishop of Vienna, Cardinal Christoph Schonborn, appeared to suggest that priestly celibacy may be among the causes of clerical sex abuse. Calling for an "unflinching examination" of the causes of the sex abuse scandal, Cardinal Schonborn pointed to the "formation of priests as well as the so-called sexual revolution of the generation of 1968" as key factors in the sex abuse crisis. A one-time pupil of Pope Benedict and reportedly one of his major "electors" at the 2005 conclave which saw Cardinal Ratzinger elected pope, Cardinal Schonborn is widely perceived as someone very close to the pope. Even though his spokesman later issued a clarification in which he stated that the cardinal did not intend "to question the Church's celibacy rule", Cardinal Schonborn's remarks at the very least give the impression that the vexed question of priestly celibacy is all too prominent in the minds of senior Church figures, in relation to the sex abuse scandals. In another unprecedented development, the Vatican daily, L'Osservatore Romano, yesterday carried an editorial, written by history professor Lucetta Scaraffia, which argued that a greater presence of women in Church decision-making might have helped remove "the veil of masculine secrecy" that surrounded clerical sex abuse. Vatican commentators remain convinced that Pope Benedict is unlikely to finalise his promised pastoral letter to the Irish faithful, primarily on the issue of clerical sex abuse, until after he has met with Archbishop Zollitsch today. It is still believed that the pastoral letter will be released before Easter. Originally published by PADDY AGNEW in Rome. (c) 2010 Irish Times. Provided by ProQuest LLC. All rights Reserved. A service of YellowBrix, Inc.
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