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Cardinal Wetter with his predecessor at the Munich Bishopric, Pope Benedict XVI.
(archive picture from 2006)
Photo:
Matthias Schrader / dpa
Pope Benedict XVI
corrected himself after the abuse report and admitted a false statement when dealing with a case of abuse as archbishop of Munich-Freising at the time.
His successor in the bishopric, Cardinal Friedrich Wetter, in turn rejects a large part of the allegations made against him in the report.
Wetter (in office from 1982 to 2008) has now apologized for his "wrong decision" in a prominent case of abuse - the pastor in question should no longer have been employed in pastoral care, it said in a statement.
"I am sincerely sorry."
In numerous other cases, however, he vehemently denies any misconduct he has been accused of.
"In six cases there was no abuse," Wetter writes, for example - or: "One name was completely unknown to me." He comes to the conclusion: The facts of the 21 cases "by no means substantiate a general 'misconduct in 21 cases'".
Cardinal Marx accuses victims of abuse
Wetter was followed by Cardinal Reinhard Marx in the Munich bishopric, who still heads the archdiocese today.
During Wetter's tenure, priest H., who had been convicted of sexual abuse, was transferred to another parish in Garching an der Alz - where he is said to have abused boys again.
H. had been brought to the Archdiocese from North Rhine-Westphalia during the tenure of Joseph Ratzinger, who later became Pope Benedict XVI.
The correction of the former pontiff also refers to the exact processes in a session.
According to Wetter, how he, as Ratzinger's successor, dealt with the H. case filled him "with shame and sadness."
He had not done justice to the protection of children and young people to the necessary extent.
The report commissioned by the Archdiocese and presented last week accuses Wetter of misconduct in 21 cases.
He did not deny the cases, but he did misconduct on his part, said the lawyer Martin Pusch at the presentation of the report.
The current Archbishop, Cardinal Reinhard Marx, has also been accused of formal misconduct in two cases.
Overall, the experts speak of at least 497 victims and 235 alleged perpetrators, but they assume a much larger number of unreported cases.
After the report was presented, Ratzinger's role made the headlines.
The experts accuse him of misconduct in four cases – and that he is said to have told an untruth.
Benedict has now admitted this and spoke of an "accident".
A member of the independent Advisory Board for Affected Persons in the Archdiocese of Munich and Freising has meanwhile made serious allegations against the incumbent Cardinal Reinhard Marx in dealing with his own case of abuse.
Destroyed trust in the church
In an open letter, Richard Kick accused Marx of "a lack of pastoral care," "moral failings," and "inactivity."
The archbishop's mistakes had completely destroyed his faith and trust in the institution of the church.
According to the letter, Kick had told the archbishop in 2010 that he had been sexually abused by a priest.
However, Marx did not do anything; the clergyman, who has since died, was buried “with all honor” in 2019 as an impeccable priest.
Kick, who claims to have given his letter to Marx on Monday, called on the cardinal to turn back.
"Stop blaming others for the heinous crimes committed by this large number of children, youth and adult wards," he wrote.
Marx wants to comment on the report on Thursday.
Last year he offered Pope Francis his resignation as Archbishop of Munich, but the Pope declined.
Apr/dpa/AFP
