Retired Pope Benedict XVI Admits Erroneously Misleading Probe Into Child Sexual Abuse

© REUTERS / POOLPope Emeritus Benedict XVI gestures at the Munich Airport before his departure to Rome, June 22, 2020
Pope Emeritus Benedict XVI gestures at the Munich Airport before his departure to Rome, June 22, 2020 - Sputnik International, 1920, 24.01.2022
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BERLIN, (Sputnik) - Former Pope Benedict XVI admitted on Monday to giving a false statement to German investigators probing child sexual abuse by the country's Catholic clergy.
In a statement shared by the pope's secretary Georg Gaenswein with the Vatican News and other German media, the former pontiff said he attended a 1980 meeting on a pedophile priest who abused several boys in the late 1970s and 1980s. Investigators said last week the pontiff's denial was not credible.
Gaenswein attributed the mistake to "the result of inaccuracy in the editorial processing of his statement" about the pope's presence at a meeting at the Archdiocese of Munich, which he led from 1977 to 1982. The pope was then known as Joseph Ratzinger.
The pope said he was very sorry for the mistake and asked for forgiveness.
The archdiocese commissioned the probe after the Catholic Church was accused of failing to prevent and punish sexual abuse by its members. Peter Hullermann, the cleric who was the subject of the 1980 meeting, was transferred to Munich from Essen for treatment and reassigned to pastoral duties despite his record.
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