German Church faces pressure as abuse inquiry broadens

March 08, 2010

Pressure is mounting on Church officials in Germany to provide a thorough accounting of sex-abuse complaints. And the country's justice minister, Sabine Leutheusser-Schnarrenberger, has criticized the Vatican for what she called a "wall of silence" regarding the problem.

Leutheusser-Schnarrenberger cited Vatican policies established in 2001, calling for confidential Church investigations of all sex-abuse complaints. However, that policy does not prevent bishops from reporting the complaints to public law-enforcement officials as well.

Critics of the Church in Germany claimed that Pope Benedict should make an accounting for his own tenure as a bishop there, and highlighted the fact that recent complaints have arisen from former members of the Regensberg cathedral choir that was once directed by the Pope's older brother, Msgr. Georg Ratzinger. The Vatican newspaper L'Osservatore Romano published a statement by Bishop Gerhard Ludwing Muller of Regensberg, pointing out that the two complaints from the choir "do not coincide with the time at which Rev. Georg Ratzinger was in charge." The bishop added: "Both cases were made public at the time and can be considered closed in a judicial sense."

Msgr. Ratzinger told the Italian daily La Repubblica that he was willing to testify about the policies of the choir. He repeated that he was unaware of any abuse complaints during his tenure.

 

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Further information:

• German minister: Vatican rule hurts abuse probes (AP)
• German choir abuse predates Pope's brother: Vatican (Reuters)
• Reformers want pope to talk about alleged abuse cases (Deutsche Welle)
• Pope's brother says he would testify in abuse case (AP)