ITALY / VATICAN: A letter has surfaced indicating Pope Benedict urged caution on defrocking a priest accused of sexual abuse in 1985

Record ID: 334633

  • Title: ITALY / VATICAN: A letter has surfaced indicating Pope Benedict urged caution on defrocking a priest accused of sexual abuse in 1985
  • Date: 11th April 2010
  • Summary: VARIOUS VIEWS OF WRITTEN STATEMENT FROM CALIFORNIA LAWYER
  • Embargoed: 26th April 2010 13:00
  • Keywords:
  • Topics: Religion
  • Reuters ID: LVA7DGUHH9801288XFF4YF8UL9BO
  • Story Text: Pope Benedict, in a previous post as a high Vatican official, recommended caution in the defrocking of a California Roman Catholic priest who pleaded guilty to molesting children, according to a letter released on Friday (April 9) by lawyers for the victims.
    In the 1985 letter, typed in Latin, then-Cardinal Joseph Ratzinger told the bishop of Oakland he needed more time "to consider the good of the Universal Church" as he reviewed a request to remove the priest.
    The letter surfaced as the Vatican fights accusations that the pope mishandled cases of abuse when when he was a bishop in Germany and a Vatican official before his election in 2005.
    The Vatican has defended the Pope, insisting he did not impede proceedings.
    Ratzinger wrote in the letter that arguments to remove the Rev. Stephen Miller Kiesle were of "grave significance," but also worried about what "granting the dispensation can provoke with the community of Christ's faithful, particularly regarding the young age of the petitioner."
    Kiesle was 38 at the time and had been sentenced in 1978 to three years' probation after pleading guilty to misdemeanor charges of lewd conduct for tying up and molesting two young boys in a church rectory.
    "The letter is a serious blow to the position of Cardinal Ratzinger in the eighties," said Vatican analyst Marco Politi.
    "This document reflects what was the general attitude of the Vatican in those years when the main thing was to care about the image of the church and about the scandal in a parish," he continued, saying that the fact that despite serious reasons for defrocking the priest the church chose to favour its image over the victims.
    The Vatican on Saturday (April 10) defended Pope Benedict from the accusations and accused the media of a "rush to judgment".
    In a statement, California-based Vatican lawyer Jeffrey Lena said he could not confirm the authenticity of the letter but indicated that it appeared to be "a form letter typically sent out initially with respect to laicisation cases," when men ask to leave the priesthood.
    Lena "denied that the letter reflected then-Cardinal Ratzinger resisting pleas from the bishop to defrock the priest," the statement said.
    "During the entire course of the proceeding the priest remained under the control, authority and care of the local bishop who was responsible to make sure he did no harm, as the canon (Church) law provides. The abuse case wasn't transferred to the Vatican at all," he said.
    According to a letter from the Diocese of Oakland to Ratzinger in 1981, Kiesle had asked to leave the active ministry and the diocese asked Ratzinger to agree that he be "relieved of all the obligations of the priesthood, including celibacy."
    Asked about reports about the documents, the Vatican's deputy spokesman, the Rev. Ciro Benedettini, told Reuters that then-Cardinal Ratzinger did not cover up the case but wanted it studied with greater attention for the good of all persons involved.
    The documents released to Reuters by victims' attorney Jeff Anderson show long delays in responses, the loss of documents at the Vatican and exasperation at the Oakland Diocese.
    Visitors to the Vatican had mixed views on the latest allegations but expressed hope the church would do the right thing.
    "We need to rid the church of this dirtiness. That's the important thing," said one man.
    "I certainly hope and pray that the church addresses these issues very quickly and if the current pope was involved in something he shouldn't have been I hope that he will pray for guidance and do the right thing at that point," said an American man.
    A few were more sceptical.
    "Often the media digs up damaging things just like in this case but they are not based on anything concrete," one man said.
    Politi insisted the only way for the church to redeem itself was to open up and tell the truth.
    "The only way for the church leadership to get out of this situation is to open the archives and to tell clearly what went wrong in the eighties and in the nineties or what was done well," he stated.
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