Benedict Emerges from Papal Retirement to Defend Record on Sex Abuse
By Nick Squires
The ex-pontiff spoke of his "profound consternation" that "evil" had entered so deeply into the Catholic faith. But he denied that he had, either as pope or previously as head of the Vatican office dealing with abuse cases, tried to "cover up" the scandals that tarnished the Church's reputation around the world. "That the power of evil penetrated so far into the interior world of the faith is a suffering that we must bear, but at the same time must do everything to prevent it from repeating," he said. The missive, sent to Piergiorgio Odifreddi, an atheist mathematician, and reprinted on the front page of leading Italian daily La Repubblica, was the first published statement from Benedict since he said on his retirement that he would live out his remaining years "hidden from the world". The letter, which also discussed topics such as the nature of Catholic belief, the conflict between good and evil, and evolution, came just two weeks after La Repubblica published a similar letter from his successor Pope Francis on atheism and agnosticism. The Vatican said the timing of the two documents was a coincidence, rather than a concerted attempt by the two pontiffs to launch a fresh engagement with non-believers. But the fact that an ex-Pope and his successor wrote letters dealing with similar issues within days of each other underlined the peculiarity of a situation in which for the first time in centuries, two Popes are living virtually under the same roof. While Pope Francis lives in a Vatican guesthouse called the Casa Santa Marta, his successor is living out his retirement in a former convent a few hundred yards away. It is not known how often the two men meet as they move around within the walls of the tiny sovereign state but they share the same private secretary – Archbishop Georg Ganswein. Benedict's assertion that he had done what he could to end sexual abuse by priests was immediately disputed by groups representing the victims of paedophile clergy. "Over a clerical career that lasted more than six decades, we can't think of a single child- molesting bishop, priest, nun, brother or seminarian that Benedict ever exposed," said Barbara Dorris of the US-based Survivors Network of those Abused by Priests. "In the Church's entire history, no one knew more but did less to protect kids than Benedict. "As head of CDF (Congregation for the Doctrine of the Faith), thousands of cases of predator priests crossed his desk. Did he choose to warn families or call police about even one of those dangerous clerics? No. That, by definition, is a cover up."
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