Newsgroup: it.politica.internazionale
Titolo: lui lo conosceva bene

http://www.timesonline.co.uk/tol/comment/faith/article7060406.ece#cid=OTC-RSS&attr=2015164
Pope knew priest was paedophile but allowed him to continue with ministry
Richard Owen, Rome
The Pope was drawn directly into the Roman Catholic sex abuse scandal 
last night as news emerged of his part in a decision to send a 
paedophile priest for therapy. The cleric went on to reoffend and was 
convicted of child abuse but continues to work as a priest in Upper Bavaria.
The priest was sent from Essen to Munich for therapy in 1980 when he was 
accused of forcing an 11-year-old boy to perform oral sex. The 
archdiocese confirmed that the Pope, who was then a cardinal, had 
approved a decision to accommodate the priest in a rectory while the 
therapy took place.
The priest, identified only as H, was subsequently convicted of sexually 
abusing minors after he was moved to pastoral work in nearby Grafing. In 
1986 he was given an 18-month suspended jail sentence and fined DM 4,000 
(£1,800 today). There have been no formal charges against him since.
The church has been accused of a cover-up after at least 170 allegations 
of child abuse by German Catholic priests. The scandal broke in January 
but the claims, which continue to emerge, span three decades. Critics 
say that priests were redeployed to other parishes rather than dismissed 
when they were found to be abusing children.
The Archdiocese of Munich and Freising said that there had been no 
complaints against the priest during the therapy at a church community 
in Munich. It said that the decision to let him continue working in 
Grafing was taken by Gerhard Gruber, now 81, who was vicar general of 
the archdiocese.
The Vatican said that Mgr Gruber had taken “full responsibility” for the 
priest’s move back into pastoral work but did not comment further.
Mgr Gruber said that the Pope, who was made a cardinal in 1977, had not 
been not aware of his decision because there were 1,000 priests in the 
diocese at the time and he had left many decisions to lower-level 
officials. “The cardinal could not deal with everything,” he said. “The 
repeated employment of H in pastoral duties was a serious mistake ... I 
deeply regret that this decision led to offences against youths. I 
apologise to all those who were harmed.” He did not indicate whether the 
convicted paedophile would be allowed to continue working in the church.
An American group, Survivors Network of Those Abused by Priests, said it 
“boggles the mind to hear a German Catholic official claim that a 
credibly accused paedophile priest was reassigned to parish work without 
the knowledge of his boss, then-Archbishop Joseph Ratzinger”. Any 
expulsion of a priest from the Church, however, must go through the Vatican.
The Pope was Archbishop of Munich and Freising from 1977 to 1982 and 
then moved to Rome as Prefect of the Congregation for the Doctrine of 
the Faith, a post that he held until his election as pontiff five years 
ago after the death of John Paul II.
Priest H worked in an old people’s home for two years after his 
conviction. He then moved to the town of Garching, where he became a 
curate and later a church administrator. In May 2008 he was removed from 
his duties in Garching and was not allowed to work with young people. He 
still works in the diocese, according to the newspaper Süddeutsche 
Zeitung, which broke the story.
Archbishop Robert Zollitsch, the head of Germany’s Catholic bishops, 
apologised yesterday to the victims of clerical sex abuse after meeting 
Pope Benedict. He said that the German-born Pope had expressed “great 
dismay” over the scandals and had encouraged him to take “decisive and 
courageous steps” to tackle the problem.
Mgr Zollitsch, Archbishop of Freiburg, said that the German Church would 
investigate abuse allegations and take measures to prevent a recurrence. 
He said that the Pope had been “deeply moved” by his report of sex abuse 
cases in Germany, and had praised the naming of a bishop to act as a 
clerical sex-abuse watchdog. He added that paedophilia was not confined 
to the Roman Catholic Church.
Mgr Gerhard Müller, the Bishop of Regensburg, said there was “not even a 
minimal link” between paedophilia and priestly celibacy, which would 
“not be modified”.

 Pope knew priest
mica solo quello...
http://it.wikipedia.org/wiki/De_delictis_gravioribus