Pope Emeritus Benedict XVI admitted Monday that he attended a meeting in 1980 about an abusive priest and apologized for erroneously telling investigators he did not recall the meeting.
Benedict’s spokesman said the former pontiff’s denial of the meeting in a statement to investigators was a “mistake” and that he recalled the discussion about Father Peter Hullermann, who allegedly abused at least 23 boys between 1973 and 1996.
POPE BENEDICT XVI MISHANDLED ABUSE CASES WHILE ARCHBISHOP OF MUNICH: REPORT
“He would like to emphasize that this was not done out of bad faith, but was the result of an error in the editing of his statement. He will explain how this came about in the pending statement. He is very sorry for this mistake and asks for this mistake to be excused,” Benedict’s secretary, Archbishop Georg Gänswein, told Catholic News Agency in a statement. “At present, he is carefully reading the statements made [in the report], which fill him with shame and pain about the suffering inflicted on the victims.”
Gänswein told Reuters they decided at the meeting to provide Hullermann accommodations while he underwent therapy, but they did not make a decision about a new assignment for the priest at that meeting.
The statement came in response to findings from German law firm Westpfahl Spilker Wastl’s two-year independent investigation into abuse by Catholic clergy in the Archdiocese of Munich, where Benedict served as archbishop from 1977 to 1982. Despite Benedict providing an 82-page statement denying he recalled the meeting, the final report cast doubt on these claims and found he failed to address child abuse cases while archbishop.
The report released last Thursday identified 497 victims and 235 abusers from 1945 and 2019 in the archdiocese of Munich, concluding the actual number was even higher. It also found four cases in which Benedict, then-Cardinal Joseph Ratzinger, failed to act on knowledge of abuse while head of the diocese.
Gänswein said the pope would release a more thorough statement in response to the report after he finishes reading it. The report is over 1,900-pages long, and Gänswein told the Catholic News Agency that due to 94-year-old Benedict’s age and health, it would take him some time to finish reading it.
CLICK HERE TO READ MORE FROM THE WASHINGTON EXAMINER
Benedict has repeatedly denied he knowingly covered up allegations of abuse. In 2013, he said, “I can only, as you know, acknowledge it with profound consternation. But I never tried to cover up these things,” according to CNN.
Benedict served as pope from 2005 to 2013 before becoming the first pope to resign since 1415. He was succeeded by Pope Francis and currently lives in the Vatican.
