Catholic Online Forum

Had lunch with a Catholic friend today and of course the big topic of conversation was the Pope's resignation. It came as news to me that she doesn't like Pope Benedict. She says it's because he hid sexual abuse in his diocese. I told her not to listen to the mainstream news sources.

However, this got me thinking - I am pretty sure there was some abuse in his diocese when he was bishop but he truly didn't know about it. It was dealt with at a lower level of the hierarchy or something like that but the details escape me now. Can someone help me out with this?

If my friend doesn't like the Holy Father that's neither here nor there but I would like to clear his name (I believe he is innocent). I know the burden of proof should be on her but her 'proof' is the mainstream media and she's not budging. She will consider 'evidence' I provide.

Please don't write her off - she's come a long way in understanding what the church teaches since I first met her and it seems I've been put in her life to challenge her thinking.

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Daisy Martin

After some digging I came up with this:
http://www.thesacredpage.com/2010/09/di ... abuse.html

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Daisy Martin

Why not send the link to your friend? This Pope is a good, loving. brilliant, holy man. He has served his people for many years. He deserves to retire in peace, comfort and happiness. There are people who never listened to his homilies or messages and only know about him through the humanistic and secular mainstream media. The facts don't lie. This man is innocent and it matters little to those who believe otherwise and should not concern us either. This man has done much in the short time as Pope to bring Catholics and Christians together. God bless him.

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Pax et Bonum


Schultzz

I sent her the link and she's already saying it's inconsistent and when she was working she had to be accountable for the actions of everyone in her department so where is the pope's accountability.

Some of my family members have suffered sexual abuse (by child minders, not clergy)so this is a difficult subject for me. If I did not think the Holy Father was innocent I would not be defending him!

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Daisy Martin

Isn't it sad when members of the Body of Christ are so ready to undermine Christ's vicar? If your friend were my friend, I would be drawing on the bonds of that friendship as both licence and reason to challenge the heck out of them and "encourage" them in the strongest terms possible to seek the truth in this matter! If the friendship didn't survive such an approach .... .....but you may already be doing precisely what I suggest!

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Simon Archer
".....As for me and my household, we will serve the Lord." (Joshua 24:15)

And we are part of "... a people brought into unity from the unity of the Father, the Son and the Holy Spirit." (Lumen Gentium article 4)

Yes, Simon, I am. Sometimes it's a challenge to be friends with her, especially when are supposed to be on the 'same side.' However, some of the things she has said to me have sent me to research things I was fuzzy on and I came away better equipped to defend what the Church teaches. Obviously God brought us together for a reason. She's a really lovely, caring person otherwise!

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Daisy Martin

Daisy:

I think the case your friend is referring to is that of "Fr. H." who sexually abused children in the archdiocese of Munich during the time when Ratzinger was archbishop of Munich. However, that was cleared up by the Vicar General, a Msgr. Gruber, who clearly stated that it was he who oversaw the reassigning of that priest and that he, not Ratzinger, is to blame for not taking "Fr. H." out of ministry when he should have.

Here is a link from an article by Whispers in the Loggia blog:

http://whispersintheloggia.blogspot.com/2010/03/munich-admits-error.html

In other interviews, Msgr. Gruber explained that Munich was a massive archdiocese in the 1970's with over 1,000 priests and that Ratzinger was not involved in most personnel decisions as far as tracking these priests in hundreds of parishes and schools. Specifically, at no time did Ratzinger know a priest was a sexual abuser and move him into parish ministry.

Your friend's example of being a department head does not compare truthfully. Ratzinger's position was more like a CEO of a company with hundreds of branch offices scattered over a hundred mile radius. And a CEO cannot possibly know of every act of misconduct in a company with over 1,000 employees, not counting the sisters and lay employees who worked in churches, schools, hospitals, charities, and various ministries of the Church in Munich.

I hope this is helpful to bring some clarity.

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Sincerely in Christ,
Fr. Angel

I haven't been on here in awhile but thought I'd check and see what's new - Lent season has me thinking about my faith a lot right now. This will be my first Lent as an official Catholic. Anyway, regarding this original post - I was raised Protestant and am used to the Pope being bashed but it really hurts to hear it from Catholics. I have really struggled with supposed Catholics and how poorly they feel towards the Church they go to every weekend. My wife's family are all cradle Catholics and they are so ignorant of their faith it is scary - one of them actually asked me if she's Christian even though she's a Catholic - I was shocked she did not know. The priests molesting children is obviouisly a real sore spot for many and I can see the pain it brings just speaking about it but the vibe I get from many is that the Pope on down should burn for the few who commited these awful acts. I guess some serious praying needs to be done for all concerned here - those who sinned and those paying for it but mostly the ignorant fools who will be outside the walls wailing and gnashing their teeth for eternity if they don't get their heads out of you know where.

I'll start right now.

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Kevin R.

Fr. Angel - THANK YOU!

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Daisy Martin

Concerning another lie:

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Grace

As to the past, let us entrust it to God's mercy, the future to Divine Providence. Our task is to live holy the present moment. - Saint Gianna Molla

Love that photo.

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Jeff Stevens