Germany’s Catholic Church has ordered two separate investigations
yesterday into allegations of widespread sexual abuse in its
institutions, and into whether Pope Benedict knew about them while he
was a diocesan bishop.
With nearly two thirds of dioceses caught up in the widening scandal,
the German Bishops’ Conference said that it would examine all 170
allegations made so far, the Times Online reports.
A spokesman said that the investigation would take a close look at
the boarding school in Bavaria where the Pope’s brother, Monsignor Georg
Ratzinger, was choirmaster.
Karl Jüsten, a spokesman for the German Bishops’ Conference, said
that the inquiry would ask what the Pope knew about the allegations
while he was Bishop of Munich and Friesing between 1977 and 1982. “We do
not know if the Pope knew about the abuse cases,” Father Jüsten said.
“However, we assume that this is not the case.”
The Regensburg diocese appointed Andreas Scheulen, a lawyer, to
conduct a separate investigation of abuse at the school and its choir.
“The independent lawyer will thoroughly go through all existing legal
papers, all court decisions and any information available,” Jacob
Schötz, the spokesman of the diocese, said. “We expect to publish first
results within two weeks.”
While many Catholics congratulated Monsignor Ratzinger for his
admission that he hit choirboys and his apology to the victims, others
questioned whether he had told the whole truth.
“Severe beatings were normal but Ratzinger did not belong to the
group of more sadistic abusers,” Franz Wittenbrink, a former choirboy,
said yesterday. “But I do accuse him of covering up the abuses.”
Yesterday four new sites of purported sexual abuse of children were
highlighted.
SOURCE
German
Catholic Church pledges to investigate all 170 allegations of abuse
(Times Online)