Benedict XVI, 94, Answers for Failures to Punish Priests Guilty of Abusing Children during His Years as Archbishop in the Bavarian Diocese

The recent accusations against the Pope Emeritus concerned his connivance in, and mishandling of, four cases of abuse of minors between 1977 and 1982 in the Archdiocese of Munich and Freising. The Pope answered these accusations in a letter: "…and before the victims whom I met during my pontificate, I continue to feel great sorrow and ask for forgiveness." The address offers clarifications of the disputed interpretations of the cases under discussion; in addition, Benedict XVI returns to the question of his attitude towards the "greatest guilt" that falls upon individual priests who committed abuses, and upon the whole Church as well.

Pope Emeritus Benedict recalls his meetings with the victims of sexual abuse by priests during the years of his reign: "I looked into the eyes of the consequences of a very great evil and learned to understand that we are bound up with this great guilt when we neglect it, or when we fail to meet the victim with the necessary resolve and responsibility, as has happened and happens all too often. As at those meetings, I can only once again express my deep shame, my immense pain and my sincere plea for forgiveness to all the victims of sexual abuse. I bore great responsibilities in the Catholic Church, and I grieve all the more for the abuses and mistakes that took place during my mandate in the respective posts. Every single case of sexual abuse is terrible and irreparable. I feel deep compassion for the victims of sexual abuse and regret every single case."