Retired pope asks pardon for abuse, but admits no wrongdoing

ROME (AP) — Retired Pope Benedict XVI asked for forgiveness Tuesday for any “grievous faults” in his handling of clergy sex abuse cases, but denied any personal or specific wrongdoing after an independent report criticised his actions in four cases while he was archbishop of Munich, Germany.

“I have had great responsibilities in the Catholic Church.

All the greater is my pain for the abuses and the errors that occurred in those different places during the time of my mandate,” the retired pope said.

But Benedict's lack of a personal apology or any admission of guilt was likely to rile survivors and further complicate efforts by German bishops re-establish credibility with the faithful.

Demands for accountability have only increased as the church has come to terms with decades of sexual abuse by priests and cover-up by their bishops.

Benedict, 94, was responding to a Jan. 20 report from a German law firm that had been commissioned by the German Catholic Church to look into how cases of sexual abuse were handled in the Munich archdiocese between 1945 and 2019. Benedict, the former Cardinal Joseph Ratzinger, headed the archdiocese from 1977 to 1982.

The report faulted Benedict's handling of four cases during his time as archbishop, accusing him of misconduct for having failed to restrict the ministry of the priests in the cases even after they had been convicted criminally.

The report also faulted his predecessors and successors, estimating there had been at least 497 abuse victims over the decades and at least 235 suspected perpetrators.

The Vatican on Tuesday released a letter that Benedict wrote to respond to the allegations, alongside a more technical reply from his lawyers who had provided an initial 82-page response to the law firm about his nearly five-year tenure in Munich.

The conclusion of Benedict's lawyers was resolute: “As an archbishop, Cardinal Ratzinger was not involved in any cover-up of acts of abuse,” they wrote.

They criticised the report's authors for misinterpreting their submission, and asserted that they provided no evidence that Benedict was aware of the criminal history of any of the four priests in question.

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