Word: archbishops
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...positions of power. Take your second reform, for instance, that bishops should have more power. Before then-Cardinal Joseph Ratzinger's 2001 letter “Crimen Sollicitationis,” that effectively centralized reports of abuse to the Vatican (over the heads of local bishops), people like former Archbishop Bernard Law of Boston were able to keep reports from spreading, hush up victims and relocate offending priests, without either the Vatican or civil authorities knowing. This system was deeply flawed, and to advocate even a partial return to it shows only a deep ignorance of the history...
...example, when the Pope himself served as an archbishop in Germany in 1980, a priest in his diocese struggling with pedophilia was permitted to move to Munich for therapy. The priest was subsequently appointed to serve in a church, and civil officials were never informed of the allegations against him. Within five years, the priest was again accused of sexual abuse and he was convicted in 1986. Providing bishops with more power and more incentives to speak out against incidents like this—times when abusive priests are discreetly transferred without informing civil authorities of their criminal actions?...
...modest, book-cluttered office just off St. Peter's Square, Lombardi stuck to the official line about Ratzinger's role in the Munich transfer, saying "it was normal" that the assigning of priests - even those with serious problems - was handled by deputies without the knowledge of the Archbishop. "I believe the communiqués from Munich are sufficient," he said, referring to the statements of the German church hierarchy...
...current pedophile-priest scandal - what the Catholic writer and papal critic Andrew Sullivan pointedly refers to as "child rape" by clergy - has transfixed Catholics around the world, particularly with the allegations out of Germany that Benedict XVI, then Archbishop Joseph Ratzinger of Munich, may have allowed a transferred priest accused of sexual abuse to work again with children. The scandal has had a telling effect on the tradition-bound Holy See. High-ranking clerics have complained of media bias and a conspiracy against the Pope. One well-placed Vatican official who worked closely with the Pope when...
...enough: in Germany and Ireland there's a growing clamor for fresh public inquiries, the kind Ratzinger opposed. In the Pope's homeland, many want him to make a public statement. On March 12, he gave a 45-minute audience to the head of Germany's Catholic Church, Archbishop Robert Zollitsch. Afterward, Zollitsch said church leaders in Germany would conduct a review of current guidelines on priests suspected of abuse and appoint a special representative to look into claims. The aim, Zollitsch said, apologizing to victims in the past, was to "uncover the truth" of priestly behavior. The Pope remained...