Top German Bishop honours former Pope Benedict, but says "he left stumbling stones"

Record ID: 1704793

  • Title: Top German Bishop honours former Pope Benedict, but says "he left stumbling stones"
  • Date: 31st December 2022
  • Summary: (SOUNDBITE) (German) GEORG BAETZING, HEAD OF GERMAN BISHOP'S CONFERENCE, SAYING: "Today is a day of mourning, of farewell, but for me personally even more one of gratitude and respect for a great man of the Church." BAETZING SPEAKING (SOUNDBITE) (German) GEORG BAETZING, HEAD OF GERMAN BISHOP'S CONFERENCE, SAYING: "He was a brilliant theologian. Like almost no one else, he tried to convey the depths of faith to the people. He was a Peritus. He himself helped to shape the last Council, the Second Vatican Council, as a theological advisor at that time. He influenced generations of theology students and had an impact far beyond that through his books." PHOTO OF BENEDICT WITH CANDLE (SOUNDBITE) (German) GEORG BAETZING, HEAD OF GERMAN BISHOP'S CONFERENCE, SAYING: "The modest and humble manner of his presence has remained in the fond memories of many people. So he, this Pope, was much more reserved. He was not born for the public and the stage, but more for inwardness, for considering faith between reason and faith, but also for leading a church with wise care." BAETZING TALKING NEXT TO PICTURE OF BENEDICT (SOUNDBITE) (German) GEORG BAETZING, HEAD OF GERMAN BISHOP'S CONFERENCE, SAYING: "We, his compatriots, have not always had it easy with him, and nor has Pope Benedict always made it easy for us in a confessionally mixed country in an ecumenical bond. He has pointed out the areas where we have to be honest, where we have to be prepared to work even more profoundly, to fathom, to move along together. And he also left some stumbling stones in the way. He did all this as a 'humble fellow worker of the truth', that was his maxim as archbishop. And he felt committed to it." BAETZING TALKING NEXT TO PICTURE OF BENEDICT (SOUNDBITE) (German) GEORG BAETZING, HEAD OF GERMAN BISHOP'S CONFERENCE, SAYING: "During his term in office, Pope Benedict has actually revealed the depths of the abuse. The abuse, which in the Catholic Church has left such a lasting impact on us and our daily lives to this day, because it is associated with the loss of trust and credibility. Like no one before him, Pope Benedict has made it clear: every abuse is a crime, and we need structures in the Church that deal with these crimes appropriately." BAETZING TALKING TO PRESS (SOUNDBITE) (German) GEORG BAETZING, HEAD OF GERMAN BISHOP'S CONFERENCE, SAYING: "On the issue of the Munich abuse report, he himself asked for forgiveness from those affected. Questions remained open until the end. But we have to live with these open questions, we can live with them. And he went into God's eternity with these questions." BAETZING SEEN IN CAMERA DISPLAY (SOUNDBITE) (German) GEORG BAETZING, HEAD OF GERMAN BISHOP'S CONFERENCE, SAYING: "When he became Pope in 2005, there was a major headline: 'We are Pope'. That has changed. This great support, which within the following years was relativised in some way and receded. But now we have one of our own who died on this day. And the faithful solidarity is telling me that we want to stand up for him. He belongs to us. He was a great gift to us and we want to thank God for this gift and ask that Pope Benedict now finds his home in the goodness and kindness of God." CAMERA TEAMS BAETZING STANDING IN FRONT OF PORTRAIT OF FORMER POPE BENEDICT AND CONDOLENCE BOOK
  • Embargoed: 14th January 2023 13:37
  • Keywords: Benedict Benedikt Bischofskonferenz Bishop Pope Death
  • Location: LIMBURG, GERMANY
  • City: LIMBURG, GERMANY
  • Country: Germany
  • Topics: Europe,Religion/Belief,Society/Social Issues
  • Reuters ID: LVA002970331122022RP1
  • Aspect Ratio: 16:9
  • Story Text: German politicians and church leaders mourned the death of former Pope Benedict on Saturday (December 31), hailing his importance to his homeland as Germany's first pontiff in 1,000 years.
    "Today is a day of mourning, of farewell, but for me personally even more one of gratitude and respect for a great man of the Church," said Georg Baetzing, who is bishop of Limburg and head of the German Bishops' Conference. Describing him as a brilliant theologian, Baetzing said Benedict was nonetheless humble and cautious - not born to take the stage but rather to reflect on the considerations of faith. However, Baetzing made reference to a report on sexual abuse in institutions of the Church.
    In January 2022, an independent report in Benedict's native Germany alleged that he had failed to take action in four cases when he was Archbishop of Munich between 1977 and 1982. The frail former pope acknowledged in an emotional personal letter that errors had occurred and asked for forgiveness. His lawyers argued in a detailed rebuttal that he was not directly to blame.
    Child abuse scandals hounded most of his papacy but he is credited with jump-starting the process to discipline or defrock predator priests after a more lax attitude under John Paul II. He ordered an inquiry into abuse in Ireland, which led to the resignation of several bishops. He disciplined the late Father Marcial Maciel, founder of the Catholic order the Legionaries of Christ and one of the Church's most notorious predators. The Vatican under Pope John Paul II had failed to take action against Maciel despite overwhelming evidence of his crimes.
    Benedict, who died earlier on Saturday aged 95, resigned in 2013, the first pontiff in 600 years to do so. Explaining the shock decision, Benedict said he was too old and frail to lead the Roman Catholic Church and its more than 1.3 billion members. Born Joseph Aloisius Ratzinger on April 16, 1927, in the Bavarian village of Marktl, Benedict became a priest in 1951 and succeeded Pope John Paul II following his death in 2005.
    (Production: Timm Reichert, Susanne Neumayer-Remter, Hung Trinh)
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