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...media as well as from the faithful - and much of the ire is focused on the German who is now Supreme Pontiff in Rome. On Monday, the daily Süddeutsche Zeitung splashed the headline "Benedict XVI Remains Silent" on a front-page story describing how the Pope declined to comment on the growing priestly sexual-abuse scandal in his native Germany during public prayers in the Vatican on Sunday. "The abuse scandal has been a nightmare," Alois Glück, president of Germany's lay organization, the Central Committee of German Catholics, tells TIME...
...catalyst. Within weeks, dozens of victims came forward with accusations at other Catholic schools and institutions. With up to 200 allegations of abuse, 22 out of Germany's 27 Roman Catholic dioceses have been affected by the scandal. Even the famous choir of Regensburg, in Bavaria, which the Pope's brother Georg Ratzinger led for 30 years, has been drawn into the scandal, after former choirboys described a "system of sadistic punishments and sexual lust." (The retired Georg Ratzinger says he didn't know about the alleged sexual-abuse incidents.) (See pictures of Pope Benedict...
Benedict himself has been linked to the latest controversies. In the early 1980s, a priest suspected of abuse was transferred to the Pope's former archdiocese in Munich - and that case has raised further awkward questions about the church's handling of abuse allegations. Last Friday, the Archdiocese of Munich and Freising confirmed in a statement that "serious mistakes were made in the 1980s" after the priest, known as "Father H," was moved from the western city of Essen to Munich and was allowed to continue with his pastoral work. According to the Süddeutsche Zeitung, Father...
...Still, the allegations in Germany could have far greater resonance, given the possible personal implications for Benedict. "The Pope is more familiar with the church in Germany than with that in any other country, so any accusations of abuse would probably affect him far more," says Martin. "It cannot fail to evoke strong personal emotions from the Holy Father." And the allegations are yet another reminder of how far the sins of clergy abuse may have reached in the Catholic Church...
...associate editor of the New York-based Catholic magazine America, says Benedict, too, has been notably more eager than his predecessors to confront the issue of clergy sex abuse, having held an unprecedented meeting with victims on his trip to the U.S. in 2008. (See pictures of the Pope meeting Barack Obama...