Charlotte Observer
March 26, 2010
http://www.charlotteobserver.com/2010/03/26/1336629/pope-benedict-xvi-and-the-tarnished.html
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| Questions about Pope Benedict XVI continue to grow. |
The systematic coverup of many Catholic priests' decades-long sexual abuse of thousands of children now appears to have reached all the way to the top and Pope Benedict XVI.
The New York Times on Thursday broke the story of how the pope, who was then Cardinal Joseph Ratzinger, and other top Vatican officials looked the other way or worse when informed of a particularly egregious case of an abusive priest in Wisconsin. American bishops directly contacted Ratzinger in 1996 about the Rev. Lawrence Murphy, who had molested as many as 200 deaf boys while working at a school in Milwaukee from 1950 to 1974.
As Wisconsin bishops prepared a secret canonical trial against him, Murphy wrote to Ratzinger, who led the Vatican office that decides how to handle cases of accused priests. Murphy said he was in poor health and "I have repented of any of my past transgressions, and ... simply want to live out the time that I have left in the dignity of my priesthood. ... I ask your kind assistance in this matter."
Soon after, Ratzinger's then-deputy, Cardinal Tarcisio Bertrone, halted Murphy's looming trial. He was never seriously disciplined. The Vatican's defense Thursday was underwhelming.
News of Ratzinger's involvement in Murphy's case comes as questions grow about how the man who is now pope handled other allegations of priest abuse when he was archbishop in Germany and the head enforcer for the Vatican. A priest now at the center of a child sex abuse scandal in Germany was transferred in 1980 to an archdiocese led by Ratzinger after a string of allegations against him.
Benedict's letter of remorse to Irish victims last week over scandals there did not call for any diocesan leaders to be punished. It was woefully late and inadequate.
The Catholic Church has been handling abuse of children primarily as an internal matter of sin and forgiveness. It is not. It is a crime, and it is now years past the time when the church should fully cooperate worldwide with police and other law enforcement authorities. Countless priests who deserved prison time have avoided discipline over the years, and their victims still live tormented lives.
Questions about Benedict's stance throughout his career need complete answers. And the church needs to end, once and for all, its stonewalling.
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