The investigation of sexualized assaults also includes the tenure of Joseph Ratzinger, Pope Emeritus Benedict XVI, as archbishop in Munich. Follow the presentation of the report in the live stream.
Dealing with sexualized abuse in the Archdiocese of Munich and Freising is the subject of an eagerly awaited report that will be presented this morning in Munich.
It is an extensive report by the Munich law firm Westpfahl Spilker Wastl (WSW) on behalf of the Archdiocese of Munich and Freising, which examines cases of sexualized abuse by clerics and full-time employees in the period 1945 to 2019 and how it was dealt with.
The report also concerns the conduct of office of Pope Emeritus Benedict XVI. as Archbishop: Cardinal Joseph Ratzinger was Archbishop of Munich and Freising from 1977 to 1982. During this time there was one of the most serious cases of abuse in the archbishopric. So far, it has been disputed how much Ratzinger knew about this case at the time and whether he was involved in dealing with it.
The priest Peter H. was transferred from Essen to Munich after he had already abused children in his home diocese. He was sent to the Archdiocese of Munich for therapy purposes, where he again committed assaults and was also convicted. In spite of his previous history, the then Vicar General Gerhard Gruber was solely responsible for the use of the priest.
According to reports, the more than 1,000-page report also contains an 82-page statement by the Pope Emeritus. In it he answered questions from the lawyers, his private secretary, Archbishop Georg Gänswein, said last week image– newspaper said. “He welcomes the processing in Munich and the publication of the report,” said Gänswein. The fate of the victims of abuse was “very heartfelt” to him.
The Archbishop of Munich and Freising, Cardinal Reinhard Marx, wants to comment on the report in the afternoon. According to the experts, the archbishop was not aware of the report until his presentation this morning. The report was originally expected to be published in the summer of 2021. The law firm justified the postponement last November with “new findings” that had to be checked.
The Munich I public prosecutor’s office has already taken action on the basis of the research by the WSW law firm. In August of last year, the WSW law firm provided her with material on 41 cases in which the experts believed there had been misconduct on the part of church officials. This was explained by the public prosecutor’s office at the request of the SZ. Another case was added in November. Among the 42 cases was the case of priest Peter H. “The 42 cases relate exclusively to those responsible for the church who are still alive and were transmitted in a highly anonymous form,” the public prosecutor said. If, on this basis, there were any suspicions that church officials had committed a criminal offence, separate preliminary investigations would be initiated.
The live stream of the performance will be Bavarian radio made available.