As Abuse Scandal Nears Pope Vatican Fires Back But SexAbuse Cases Growing Every Day in Germany, by Polly Davis Doig, Newser, March 13, 2010

As Abuse Scandal Nears Pope, Vatican Fires Back
But Sex-Abuse Cases 'Growing Every Day' in Germany

By Polly Davis Doig
Newser
March 13, 2010

http://www.newser.com/story/83178/as-abuse-scandal-nears-pope-vatican-fires-back.html

VATICAN CITY -- A day after high-level Catholic officials admitted that "serious mistakes" were made in handling a sex abuse case in the German diocese where Pope Benedict XVI was then archbishop, the Vatican came out swinging in defense of the embattled pontiff. Benedict, as the Vatican's cardinal in charge of sex-abuse policy, "showed wisdom and firmness in handling these cases," a spokesman tells the AP.

In this Sept. 13, 2006 file picture Pope Benedict XVI walks with brother priest Georg Ratzinger in Regensburg, southern Germany.
Photo by Diether Endlicher

Pope Benedict XVI gestures during the weekly general audience in St. Peter's Square at the Vatican, Wednesday, April 29, 2009.
Photo by Pier Paolo Cito

Some "have tried to personally involve the Holy Father in the matter of abuses," said a Vatican spokesman. "For any objective observer, it's clear that these efforts have failed." But the New York Times notes that a storm is swirling: "The cases are growing every day," says one German lawyer.

Archbishop Robert Zollitsch following an audience with Pope Benedict XVI at the Vatican, Friday, March 12, 2010. Germany's top bishop informed Benedict of cases of clerical sex abuse and said the pope encouraged him to pursue the truth.
Photo by Gregorio Borgia

Georg Ratzinger, brother of Pope Benedict XVI, gives interviews in Regensburg, southern Germany, in this April 20, 2005 file photo.
Photo by Uwe Lein

And the outcome jeopardizes "Benedict's central project for the 're-Christianization' of Christendom," says one biographer. "But if the root itself is seen as rotten, then his influence will be badly compromised."