Pope Accused of Gay Pedifile Cover-Up
Just days after Pope Benedict XVI chastised Irish bishops for covering up clerical sexual abuse in Ireland, new documents suggest he did nothing to discipline a Wisconsin priest he knew had molested scores of deaf boys -- and may have blocked a church trial in the case.
In 1996, when then-Cardinal Joseph Ratzinger was serving in one of the Vatican's most important positions, he received written warnings from several bishops about the Rev. Lawrence Murphy, a priest at St. John's School for the Deaf in St. Francis, Wis., The New York Times reported. The Times obtained the internal church documents from lawyers of five victims of Murphy, who are suing the Archdiocese of Milwaukee.
"This shows a direct line from the victims through the bishops and directly to the man who is now pope," Jeff Anderson, one of the lawyers, told AOL News reporter Lisa Holewa in Milwaukee. "The only difference [from the 1950s] is now we have the documents that are open to secular eyes."
Milwaukee's then-archbishop, Rembert G. Weakland, wrote Ratzinger two letters in 1996 about Murphy's behavior and got no response, the Times reported. His case was only one of thousands forwarded to Ratzinger from 1981 to 2005, when he headed the Congregation for the Doctrine of the Faith, which decides whether priests will be defrocked.
Eight months after receiving the letters, Cardinal Tarcisio Bertone, now the Vatican's secretary of state, told Wisconsin bishops to start a secret canonical trial that might have ended with Murphy's dismissal.
However, Bertone called off the trial after Murphy appealed to Ratzinger directly. The priest claimed poor health and said the abuse no longer fell within the church's statute of limitations.
"I simply want to live out the time that I have left in the dignity of my priesthood," Murphy wrote. "I ask your kind assistance in this matter." The Times reported that there are no responses from Ratzinger in the files.
Church observers say that for the pope, these allegations could be the most damaging yet in a string of allegations about official inaction and cover-ups regarding clerical sexual abuse.
"What's coming out now has just never happened before on this scale and with links to the pope," said Terry McKiernan, head of Bishops Accountability, a Catholic sexual abuse watchdog group. "This is a very scary time for the Vatican. There's never been this level of craziness to deal with in Rome. They are a very closed shop; [that] used to work for them, but may now be isolating them."
In 1996, when then-Cardinal Joseph Ratzinger was serving in one of the Vatican's most important positions, he received written warnings from several bishops about the Rev. Lawrence Murphy, a priest at St. John's School for the Deaf in St. Francis, Wis., The New York Times reported. The Times obtained the internal church documents from lawyers of five victims of Murphy, who are suing the Archdiocese of Milwaukee.
"This shows a direct line from the victims through the bishops and directly to the man who is now pope," Jeff Anderson, one of the lawyers, told AOL News reporter Lisa Holewa in Milwaukee. "The only difference [from the 1950s] is now we have the documents that are open to secular eyes."
Milwaukee's then-archbishop, Rembert G. Weakland, wrote Ratzinger two letters in 1996 about Murphy's behavior and got no response, the Times reported. His case was only one of thousands forwarded to Ratzinger from 1981 to 2005, when he headed the Congregation for the Doctrine of the Faith, which decides whether priests will be defrocked.
Eight months after receiving the letters, Cardinal Tarcisio Bertone, now the Vatican's secretary of state, told Wisconsin bishops to start a secret canonical trial that might have ended with Murphy's dismissal.
However, Bertone called off the trial after Murphy appealed to Ratzinger directly. The priest claimed poor health and said the abuse no longer fell within the church's statute of limitations.
"I simply want to live out the time that I have left in the dignity of my priesthood," Murphy wrote. "I ask your kind assistance in this matter." The Times reported that there are no responses from Ratzinger in the files.
Church observers say that for the pope, these allegations could be the most damaging yet in a string of allegations about official inaction and cover-ups regarding clerical sexual abuse.
"What's coming out now has just never happened before on this scale and with links to the pope," said Terry McKiernan, head of Bishops Accountability, a Catholic sexual abuse watchdog group. "This is a very scary time for the Vatican. There's never been this level of craziness to deal with in Rome. They are a very closed shop; [that] used to work for them, but may now be isolating them."
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