Pope Benedict apologises over child abuse scandal, begs for forgiveness

Former Pope Benedict, has finally acknowledged his mistakes in handling sexual abuse cases when he was the Archbishop of Munich, and has asked for forgiveness.

Pope Benedict, in a letter to the Vatican on Tuesday, following a report released last month on abuse in the archdiocese from 1945 to 2019 by German investigators, said he was taking the blame for the misdemeanor of the accused priests, though his lawyers had continued to argue that he was not directly to blame.

The report of the investigation by a German law firm had accused Benedict of knowingly failing to stop four priests accused of child sex abuse when he was Archbishop of Munich between 1977 and 1982.

In the three-page letter which was acknowledged by the Vatican, Benedict said he had great responsibilities in the Catholic Church but had failed to stop the abuses.

“All the greater is my pain for the abuses and the errors that occurred in those different places during the time of my mandate,” he wrote in the letter, which is his first personal response to the report.

Read also: German law firm accuses ex-Pope Benedict of failing to stop child sexual-abuses as Archbishop

“I have come to understand that we ourselves are drawn into this grievous fault whenever we neglect it or fail to confront it with the necessary decisiveness and responsibility, as too often happened and continues to happen.

“Once again I can only express to all the victims of sexual abuse my profound shame, my deep sorrow and my heartfelt request for forgiveness.

“To me, it proved deeply hurtful that this oversight was used to cast doubt on my truthfulness, and even to label me a liar,” Pope Benedict said.

Join the conversation

Opinions

Support Ripples Nigeria, hold up solutions journalism

Balanced, fearless journalism driven by data comes at huge financial costs.

As a media platform, we hold leadership accountable and will not trade the right to press freedom and free speech for a piece of cake.

If you like what we do, and are ready to uphold solutions journalism, kindly donate to the Ripples Nigeria cause.

Your support would help to ensure that citizens and institutions continue to have free access to credible and reliable information for societal development.

Donate Now