Pope Benedict XVI has confessed that he knew about one of the priests who molested 23 boys when he was in charge of the Munich diocese.
In a statement issued over the weekend first to German media outlets and then to the Catholic News Agency, Benedict’s personal secretary Georg Gänswein sought to correct the record for the ailing ex-pontiff.
Gänswein admitted that Benedict did tell independent investigators hired by the German Catholic Church that he had no recollection of his proven attendance at a hearing about Father Peter Hullermann, a priest accused of abusing at least 23 boys aged 8 to 16.
“The statement to the contrary was therefore objectively incorrect,” Gänswein said in a statement about what the former pope told investigators.
“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, now 94, was the first pope in more than 400 years to retire in 2013. His successor, Pope Francis, has not publicly commented on the German church scandal. The Vatican press office referred all questions to Gänswein.
