Pope Benedict accused of failing to act in Munich Church abuse 

Former Pope Benedict XVI is accused of failing to act in four cases of alleged sexual abuse when he was Archbishop of Munich, a report commissioned by the archdiocese found on Thursday.

The church commissioned the law firm Westfahl Spilker Wastl (WSW) in 2020 to investigate the sexual abuse allegations between 1945 and 2019 at the Archdiocese of Munich and Freising. The investigation found that there were at least 497 victims of abuse, most of whom were young males.

WSW lawyers claim that Benedict knew about the abuse that was happening inside the archdiocese but did not do anything about it. The report is the first formal accusation that Benedict mismanaged the abuse cases.

The law firm said Benedict could be accused of wrongdoing regarding four cases, including an incident when he accepted a priest into the archdiocese after he had been convicted of sexual abuse.  

"We believe that he can be accused of misconduct in four cases," said lawyer Martin Pusch. "Two of these cases concern abuses committed during his tenure and sanctioned by the state. In both cases, the perpetrators remained active in pastoral care."

“I did not take part,” Benedict told the lawyers last month. The former pope has also rejected previous accusations that he knowingly covered up sexual abuse within the church.

"During his time in office, there were abuse cases happening," Pusch said, referring to Benedict. "In those cases, those priests continued their work without sanctions. The church did not do anything… He claims that he didn't know about certain facts, although we believe that this is not so, according to what we know," said Pusch.

The Vatican said it would evaluate the report. "In reiterating a sense of shame and remorse for the abuse of minors by clergy, the Holy See assures its closeness to all victims and confirms the path it has taken to protect the little ones and guarantee them a safe environment," spokesman Matteo Bruni said.

According to the former pope’s secretary, Archbishop Georg Gänswein, Benedict “did not have the report from the legal firm ... which is more than 1,000 pages. In the next few days, he will examine the text with due attention."