Pope accused of failing to act on sex abuse case
Published:Thursday | March 25, 2010 | 5:56 PM
Pope Benedict the 16th has been accused of failing to act on complaints from two archbishops in the US about a priest who allegedly abused 200 deaf boys.
As a cardinal heading the Vatican office that dealt with sex abuse cases, the future pontiff allegedly failed to respond to letters about the case.
US media reports say a church trial of the priest, Lawrence Murphy, was halted when he pleaded ill health.
The Vatican says US civil authorities had investigated and dropped the case.
The Holy See has been haunted for months by allegations that the Church sought to cover up child abuse by Catholic priests in Europe, including Ireland, Austria, the Netherlands, Spain and Switzerland, as well as the pope\'s native Germany.