Word: vaticans
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...unprecedented move (the Vatican had previously commented on the Irish clerical sex scandal only in private letters), Benedict apologized to victims and accused Ireland's bishops - past and present - of "grave errors of judgment" and "failures of leadership" in their handling of sex-abuse cases in the church...
Church officials in Munich have confirmed that in 1986, Father H was convicted of sexually abusing children in the Bavarian town of Grafing - and was then allowed to again work among children, though no further accusations of abuse have arisen since. Vatican officials have denied that the future Pope knew anything about Father H's being allowed to work with children again, and his deputy at the time quickly took full responsibility last week for the transfer. On Monday, March 15, Father H was suspended from his current position, and his supervisor, Prelate Josef Obermaier, resigned. For some Catholic faithful...
...real parallels, even though Cardinal Ratzinger held the same position in Munich as Law held in Boston. Law was a very high Prince of the Church when the Boston scandal broke, but Ratzinger is now the Supreme Pontiff. No one should expect a papal resignation - indeed, both as Vatican Cardinal and as Pontiff, Benedict has been more responsive than many of his colleagues on clergy sex abuse. Still, the Church's history of silence is galling to the faithful. Law's reticence to speak up and take full responsibility only deepened the pain of the victims and anger...
...while resisting calls for heads to roll among those Church leaders judged responsible for their poor handling of abusive priests. But what makes the current situation particularly delicate is that the head that some critics want served up is none other than that of the Pope himself. A senior Vatican official who worked directly with the Pope while he was still Cardinal Joseph Ratzinger says the Pontiff's daily routine continues as always. "The spectacle in the newspapers makes me angry but does not discourage me. We continue our work with serenity. But it does pain us to know that...
...transferred to Munich in 1980, initially for treatment, but later allowed to return to full pastoral duties. The man at the helm of the Munich Archdiocese at the time of Father H's arrival was Ratzinger, who moved on to Rome in 1982 to become a senior Vatican official and eventually rose to the papacy in 2005 with the name Benedict XVI. (See more about the pedophile-priest scandal that is scandalizing the Catholic Church in Germany...