Pope in spotlight for covering up sex abuse

As the Christian world enters Holy Week, Pope Benedict is facing mounting pressure to resign or at the very least answer some questions.

A letter published on the New York Times website last week showed the Pope – then Cardinal Joseph Ratzinger in his role dealing with sexual abuse claims – had received information about an American priest who had sexually abused some 200 deaf boys, and did nothing about it.

Ironically, the accusation is the same as that aimed at Ireland’s Cardinal Sean Brady – to whom the Pope wrote a letter of disappointment to only two weeks ago.

The Pope’s own scandal

In 1981, Joseph Ratzinger was made Head of the Congregation for the Doctrine of Faith (CDF) – the Vatican’s office for dealing with, among other things, child abuse cases.

For 24 years he held this position before he was made Pope (pontiff) in 2005.

According to Church and Vatican documents, the Archbishop of Milwaukee wrote letters to the office in 1996 calling for disciplinary measures against Father Lawrence Murphy, a priest at a school for deaf boys in Wisconsin, America.

He is believed to have molested 200 boys between 1950 and 1974. Victims say he assaulted them while hearing confessions in his office, his car, at his mother’s house and in their dormitory beds.

Cardinal Ratzinger did not respond to the archbishop’s letters but a Church trial was authorised by Ratzinger’s deputy. However this was halted by Ratzinger (despite objections from a second archbishop) after Murphy wrote him a letter asking for the proceedings to be stopped.

Murphy said he was ill and wanted to live out the remainder of his time in the “dignity of my priesthood.”

He died in 1998 without any official condemnation on his record – despite the Catholic Church teaching that paedophilia is a grave sin.

In their only explanation so far, the Pope’s official spokesman said it was a “tragic case” but there is no provision under Church law for automatic punishment.

He noted that the police did investigate the allegations at the time but did not press charges.

The Pope has so far not responded to the claims. However at Palm Sunday Mass at St Peter’s Square in Rome, he said that faith in God helps lead one “towards the courage of not allowing oneself to be intimidated by the petty gossip of dominant opinion.”

The Vatican also criticised the media for its “ignoble attempt” to smear Pope Benedict and his top advisors.

Pope Benedict did make some positive changes to Church law during his role as chief of the CDF. He extended child abuse to include anyone under 18, removed an expiry date on claims, and established a fast-track dismissal for offenders.

He also issued an aggressive statement encouraging bishops worldwide to report all abuse cases directly to the Vatican.

However, he stated that the abuse cases were “subject to the pontifical secret”, and he did not make any statement encouraging them to report abuse to the police.

Many believe this illustrates the Church’s policy of prioritising their image over the welfare of the victims.

Pope Benedict’s reputation has soured during the current onslaught of sexual abuse cases coming out of North America and Europe.

In fact, in Ratzinger’s home country of Germany where he was praised as a hero for becoming pope, only 39% percent of Catholics now trust him.

It doesn’t help that while he was Archbishop of Munich in 1980, he was accused of overseeing a subordinate’s decision to allow a priest who had been transferred there to undergo therapy for sexual abuse to return later to pastoral duties – a decision the Vatican claims he was not involved in.

The Church does acknowledge that even though many of these sexual abuse claims happened decades ago, it must deal with the victims in the right manner if it is to retain its moral credibility.

This has so far meant a degree of compensation and the resignation of some bishops. However, they seem unwilling to consider accusations regarding the Pope or to entertain the idea of him resigning.

The last time a pope resigned was in 1415 and it’s considered extremely unlikely that this will happen.

But demands for answers are mounting from the victims, the public and Catholics themselves.

In a harsh editorial on Friday an American Catholic publication criticised the Vatican for simply issuing ambiguous papal messages in response, designed to stir little interest or understanding.

It went on to say “We now face the largest institutional crisis in centuries....It’s time for direct answers to difficult questions. It’s time to tell the truth.”

So as they roll out the Church’s holiest week, it may be time for the Vatican and the Pope to face up to this crisis, for the sake of justice, morality and the conviction of some of its followers.

By The Casual Truth