Pope Responsible for Scandals Long Before Election

March 17, 2010 - PRLog -- There is much more to Pope Benedict XVI’s role in the clergy sex scandals than is universally believed, declares one researcher. Jay Nelson, a historian and survivor who has written extensively about clergy abuse, says that his studies show that Joseph Ratzinger bears a great responsibility for the scandals, well before becoming pope.

“I was as surprised as anyone,” Nelson claims. “But in some ways, both the scandals and their eventual fading away is largely his doing. And it all has to do with the Inquisition.”

During the Boston scandals in 2003, he says, instructions for bishops on conducting secret trials of priests for sexual offenses were found among church papers. It was the first clue that the Inquisition – now called the “Congregation for the Doctrine of the Faith” or CDF – was ever concerned with priestly abuse.

Nelson says he began investigating that involvement for his recently-published book, Sons of Perdition. “I soon discovered that the Inquisition had been secretly suppressing clergy sex crimes for 400 years,” he states. “Their interest itself became secret, but the system endured until unintentionally broken during the Second Vatican Council by a speech written by a young theologian named Joseph Ratzinger.”

Nelson claims that the resulting inability of the CDF to deal with sexually active priests led to bishops transferring and treating offenders. “By the time Ratzinger himself became head of the CDF, he apparently wished to undo all his ‘mistakes,’” he says. “With Pope John Paul II, they secretly reestablished the Vatican’s control over clergy sex cases in 2001. That’s why the number of cases is decreasing.”

“It’s incredible,” he admits. “But the documents are out there, the proof is in my book and the paper I’m circulating.” When asked why come out with this information now, Nelson asserts, “The people should know that Joseph Ratzinger helped fix the cover-up, stronger than ever, before he even became pope. What, then, will he do next?”

Link: "Ratzinger's Responsibility for the Sex Scandals"
http://www.sarabite.info/ratzi-responsible.pdf

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Author, historian, activist and survivor of clergy abuse in the Catholic Church writing on contemporary religious and social issues.