{O/C} Pope Emeritus Benedict XVI today asked for forgiveness over his handling of clergy sex abuse cases that have tarnished the Catholic Church's reputation.
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After years of putting his alleged mishandling of sex scandals on the back burner, the retired Pope Benedict XVI pleaded for forgiveness today.
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His personal secretary read out the Pope's request from Rome amid overwhelming allegations that he failed to exercise his discretion via a clarion call for what should be done regarding the German church's notorious sex scandals.
The January 20 report, the authors of which got to the bottom of how sexual abuse cases were handled by the German Catholic Church from 1945 to 2019, cited mishandling of four cases during Benedict's time as archbishop, which further revealed the former Pope knew of the criminal convictions, but failed to restrict the ministry of the priests involved.
Benedict insists he only headed the archdiocese for 5 years, from 1977 to 1982. Plus, he did not confess to any personal wrongdoing.
Be that as it may, witnessing the pernicious effects of a grievous fault first-hand, spoke volumes. As such, he wrote in a letter that in his meetings with victims of sexual assault, he expressed his profound shame, deep sorrow and heartfelt request for forgiveness for not providing a security blanket for the victims.
His lawyers resolutely denied any cover-up of acts of abuse, hitting back at the report's authors for misinterpreting their submission while attesting to the fact that the authors provided no evidence that Benedict was aware of the criminal history of the four priests.
Meantime, the Vatican strongly defended Benedict, albeit glossing over his alleged faults, adamant that Benedict was the first pope to lend an ear to victims of abuse, and that he had already called for punitive actions to punish paedophiles in the church who sodomised children.
In the United States and Europe, it was the same gripe about a lack of personal apology or admission of guilt or impotence. A U.S.-based group representing German clergy abuse survivors expressed outrage. The group called the Pope's cliches that have fallen on deaf ears an insult.
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