The Fort Worth Press - Ex-pope Benedict XVI asks for forgiveness over abuse scandal

USD -
AED 3.673042
AFN 68.112673
ALL 94.198378
AMD 389.366092
ANG 1.801814
AOA 913.000367
ARS 1003.850089
AUD 1.538462
AWG 1.8025
AZN 1.70397
BAM 1.877057
BBD 2.018523
BDT 119.468305
BGN 1.877115
BHD 0.376794
BIF 2953.116752
BMD 1
BND 1.347473
BOB 6.908201
BRL 5.801041
BSD 0.99976
BTN 84.384759
BWP 13.658045
BYN 3.27175
BYR 19600
BZD 2.015164
CAD 1.39805
CDF 2871.000362
CHF 0.893615
CLF 0.035758
CLP 977.925332
CNY 7.243041
CNH 7.25914
COP 4389.749988
CRC 509.237487
CUC 1
CUP 26.5
CVE 105.825615
CZK 24.326204
DJF 178.031575
DKK 7.158304
DOP 60.252411
DZD 134.27504
EGP 49.650175
ERN 15
ETB 122.388982
EUR 0.95985
FJD 2.27595
FKP 0.789317
GBP 0.798085
GEL 2.740391
GGP 0.789317
GHS 15.795384
GIP 0.789317
GMD 71.000355
GNF 8617.496041
GTQ 7.717261
GYD 209.15591
HKD 7.78445
HNL 25.264168
HRK 7.133259
HTG 131.234704
HUF 395.000354
IDR 15943.55
ILS 3.70204
IMP 0.789317
INR 84.43625
IQD 1309.659773
IRR 42075.000352
ISK 139.680386
JEP 0.789317
JMD 159.268679
JOD 0.709104
JPY 154.770385
KES 129.468784
KGS 86.503799
KHR 4025.145161
KMF 472.503794
KPW 899.999621
KRW 1404.510383
KWD 0.30785
KYD 0.833149
KZT 499.179423
LAK 21959.786938
LBP 89526.368828
LKR 290.973655
LRD 180.450118
LSL 18.040693
LTL 2.95274
LVL 0.60489
LYD 4.882192
MAD 10.057392
MDL 18.23504
MGA 4666.25078
MKD 59.052738
MMK 3247.960992
MNT 3397.999946
MOP 8.015644
MRU 39.77926
MUR 46.850378
MVR 15.460378
MWK 1733.576467
MXN 20.428504
MYR 4.468039
MZN 63.910377
NAD 18.040693
NGN 1696.703725
NIO 36.786794
NOK 11.072604
NPR 135.016076
NZD 1.714237
OMR 0.385039
PAB 0.99976
PEN 3.790969
PGK 4.025145
PHP 58.939038
PKR 277.626662
PLN 4.16352
PYG 7804.59715
QAR 3.646048
RON 4.778204
RSD 112.339038
RUB 104.308748
RWF 1364.748788
SAR 3.754429
SBD 8.383555
SCR 13.693555
SDG 601.503676
SEK 11.036204
SGD 1.346604
SHP 0.789317
SLE 22.730371
SLL 20969.504736
SOS 571.332598
SRD 35.494038
STD 20697.981008
SVC 8.748021
SYP 2512.529858
SZL 18.034455
THB 34.480369
TJS 10.647152
TMT 3.5
TND 3.17616
TOP 2.342104
TRY 34.552504
TTD 6.790153
TWD 32.583504
TZS 2659.340659
UAH 41.35995
UGX 3694.035222
UYU 42.516436
UZS 12825.951341
VES 46.55914
VND 25419
VUV 118.722009
WST 2.791591
XAF 629.547483
XAG 0.031938
XAU 0.000369
XCD 2.70255
XDR 0.760497
XOF 629.547483
XPF 114.458467
YER 249.925037
ZAR 18.15566
ZMK 9001.203587
ZMW 27.617448
ZWL 321.999592
  • RBGPF

    59.2400

    59.24

    +100%

  • VOD

    0.1323

    8.73

    +1.52%

  • GSK

    0.2600

    33.96

    +0.77%

  • AZN

    1.3700

    65.63

    +2.09%

  • NGG

    1.0296

    63.11

    +1.63%

  • BP

    0.2000

    29.72

    +0.67%

  • RELX

    0.9900

    46.75

    +2.12%

  • BTI

    0.4000

    37.38

    +1.07%

  • RYCEF

    -0.0100

    6.79

    -0.15%

  • RIO

    -0.2200

    62.35

    -0.35%

  • CMSC

    0.0320

    24.672

    +0.13%

  • SCS

    0.2300

    13.27

    +1.73%

  • BCE

    0.0900

    26.77

    +0.34%

  • CMSD

    0.0150

    24.46

    +0.06%

  • JRI

    -0.0200

    13.21

    -0.15%

  • BCC

    3.4200

    143.78

    +2.38%

Ex-pope Benedict XVI asks for forgiveness over abuse scandal
Ex-pope Benedict XVI asks for forgiveness over abuse scandal

Ex-pope Benedict XVI asks for forgiveness over abuse scandal

Ex-pope Benedict XVI asked for forgiveness Tuesday for clerical child sex abuse committed on his watch, but aides rejected allegations of a cover-up while he was archbishop of Munich.

Text size:

"I can only express to all the victims of sexual abuse my profound shame, my deep sorrow and my heartfelt request for forgiveness," the 94-year-old said in a letter released in response to a German inquiry last month that examined his handling of paedophile priests in the 1980s.

"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 former pontiff, who stepped down in 2013, was accused in January of knowingly failing to stop four priests accused of child sex abuse in the 1980s when he was archbishop of Munich.

Benedict, who is in very frail health, asked a team of aides to help him respond to the findings by law firm Westpfahl Spilker Wastl (WSW), which had been commissioned by the archdiocese of Munich and Freising to examine abuse cases between 1945 and 2019.

The aides insisted in a statement published by the Vatican alongside his letter Tuesday that "as an archbishop, Cardinal Ratzinger was not involved in any cover-up of acts of abuse".

The former pope -- whose birth name is Joseph Ratzinger -- was the archbishop of Munich from 1977 to 1982.

In one case, a now notorious paedophile priest named Peter Hullermann was transferred to Munich from Essen in western Germany where he had been accused of abusing an 11-year-old boy.

Benedict's team has already admitted to unintentionally giving incorrect information to the report authors denying his attendance at a meeting about Hullermann in 1980.

But they denied any decision was taken at that meeting about reassigning the priest to pastoral duties, and on Tuesday said the abuse was not discussed.

"In none of the cases analysed by the expert report was Joseph Ratzinger aware of sexual abuse committed or suspicion of sexual abuse committed by priests. The expert report provides no evidence to the contrary," the statement said.

- Fear and trembling -

In his letter, Benedict said it had been "deeply hurtful" that the "oversight" over his attendance at the 1980 meeting "was used to cast doubt on my truthfulness, and even to label me a liar".

Benedict, who lives in a former monastery within the Vatican walls, said he was "particularly grateful for the confidence, support and prayer that Pope Francis personally expressed to me".

The Vatican moved last month to defend the former pope, saying he had "fought" sexual abuse -- though Pope Francis has publicly stayed silent.

Before his election as pope, Benedict led the Vatican's doctrinal congregation -- once known as the Holy Office of the Inquisition -- giving him ultimate responsibility to investigate abuse cases.

In the letter, dated February 6, he made a clear reference to his failing health, saying that "quite soon, I shall find myself before the final judge of my life".

"As I look back on my long life, I can have great reason for fear and trembling," he said, but was nonetheless "of good cheer" as the end nears.

S.Palmer--TFWP