A German law firm yesterday released a lengthy report (full text in German) on sexual abuse by clerics and employees in the Archdiocese of Munich and Freising from 1945 to 2019. The report is of particular interest because then-Cardinal Joseph Ratzinger who later became Pope Benedict XVI headed the Archdiocese from 1977 to 1982. Vatican News Service summarizes the Report's findings:
At least 497 people were abused in the Archdiocese of Munich-Freising over a period of almost 74 years (from 1945 to 2019). Most of them were young; 247 are male victims and 182 are female. Sixty percent of the victims were between the ages of 8-14. The report identifies 235 perpetrators of abuse including 173 priests, nine deacons, five pastoral workers, 48 people from the school environment.
According to NPR:
The report ... contradicts Benedict's long-running denial that he covered up or ignored abuse.
Two of the cases involved two perpetrators who committed the abuse while Ratzinger was in office.... The two were kept in pastoral work after being punished by the judicial system. A third case involved a cleric who had been convicted by a court outside Germany and was put back into service in the Munich archdiocese despite evidence showing Ratzinger knew of the man's past....
The law firm's report also criticizes Cardinal Reinhard Marx, who is currently the archbishop of Munich and Freising, for his role in two cases in 2008.
