The former Pope, Benedict XVI, has denied any
role in covering up child sex abuse by priests, in
his first public comments since retirement.
The emeritus Pope, as he is now known, addressed the
issue in a detailed letter to a prominent atheist, which
also covered many other matters.
It is thought to be the first time that Benedict has
publicly rejected personal responsibility for covering up
abuse.
Some critics say he must have known of efforts to
protect abusive priests.
Benedict's letter, to the professor of mathematics
Piergiorgio Odifreddi, was published in La Repubblica
newspaper after the professor sought the former
Pope's permission.
His comments are the first to be released publicly since
he left office, saying he would retreat to a life of prayer.
He was apparently concerned not to have a public role
that might impinge on his successor, Pope Francis.
'Source of suffering'
Regarding the repeated allegations of abuse which
arose during his pontificate, Benedict denied he had
suppressed investigation of paedophile priests.
And, while admitting the horror of abuse, he insisted
priests had no greater tendency to paedophilia than
anyone else.
He wrote: "I never tried to cover up these things. That
the power of evil penetrates to such a point in the
interior world of the faith is, for us, a source of
suffering.
"On the one hand we must accept that suffering, and
on the other, at the same time, we must do everything
possible so that such cases aren't repeated.
"It's also not a motive for comfort to know that,
according to sociological research, the percentage of
priests guilty of these crimes is no higher than in other
comparable professional categories.
"In any event, one must not stubbornly present this
deviance as if it were a nastiness specific to
Catholicism."
His comments were a direct response to points made in
Prof Odifreddi's 2011 book Dear Pope, I'm Writing to
You, which in turn was a response to Benedict's
Introduction to Christianity.
Benedict also responds to several other criticisms made
by the Italian, including whether theology can be
considered a science, and what can be known about
Jesus as an historical figure.
Prof Odifreddi said he appreciated the tone of his
dialogue with Benedict, and that, while they might
disagree on almost everything, they at least had one
aim in common: "The search for the truth, with a
capital 'T'."
Comments
Post a Comment