One day before the civil lawsuit of a victim of abuse against the Catholic Church is heard at the Traunstein district court, the pectoral cross of the dead Pope Benedict XVI is found in Traunstein. was stolen. As reported by the Bavarian State Criminal Police Office (LKA), unknown perpetrators broke into the town church of St. Oswald on Monday and broke open a showcase in which the papal jewelry was on display. Benedict handed over the piece to his home parish after his resignation as Pope.
According to the LKA, the value of the sacred object is “not quantifiable” for the Catholic Church. Cash was also stolen in the burglary. According to the authorities, the crime should have happened between 11.45 a.m. and 5 p.m., now the investigators are looking for witnesses. The public prosecutor’s office in Traunstein is leading the investigation.
The statement by the LKA does not reveal whether there is a connection to the civil lawsuit at the Traunstein district court. The authority does not want to provide any further information at this time. Joseph Ratzinger plays an important role in the lawsuit filed by a victim of abuse: the future Pope is said to have reinstated a previously convicted priest as Archbishop of the Archdiocese of Munich and Freising in 1980 – which led to renewed abuse. On Monday it was announced that the court intends to separate the lawsuit against Ratzinger from the trial taking place this Tuesday. After Ratzinger’s death, claims for damages are directed against potential heirs of the Pope, whom the court has not yet been able to name.
Shortly before the start of the trial, the lawsuit against the former Archbishop Cardinal Friedrich Wetter was withdrawn on Tuesday. The district court confirmed this. “Cardinal Wetter is the only honorable man in this process,” said plaintiff attorney Andreas Schulz. They wanted to spare the elderly man from having to appear in court. Plaintiff Andreas Perr, who claims to have been abused by a repeat offender in Garching an der Alz, has sued this priest and the Archdiocese of Munich and Freising. He is demanding 300,000 euros in damages. “I hope with a good feeling that something will change,” he said before the hearing began.