Ex-pope Benedict failed to act over child abuse cases: German probe

BERLIN (AA) - Former Pope Benedict XVI was involved in the cover-up of child abuse cases when he was the archbishop of Munich from 1977 to 1982, a new report by an independent commission has found.

Pope Benedict, then called Josef Ratzinger, was accused of misconduct in at least four child abuse cases by the commission, which was formed by German law firm Westpfahl Spilker Wastl.

After a nearly two-year investigation into the German Catholic Church's handling of sexual abuse claims, the commission announced its findings on Thursday at a news conference in Munich.

The former pope had responded to questions by the commission, and denied any wrongdoing.

A previous report commissioned by the German Catholic Church had revealed that around 1,670 clerics had committed a sexual attack against 3,677 minors, mainly boys, from 1946 through 2014.

In Rome, Vatican spokesman Matteo Bruni said the Holy See would “give due attention” to the German report, “of which at the moment it does not know the content.”

Saying it would be studied in detail “in the coming days,” Bruni said the Holy See reiterated its “sense of shame and remorse,” felt close to all victims and “confirms the path taken” to ensure children are protected.

The Catholic Church has been rocked by decades by scandals concerning the abuse of minors by priests and the systematic cover up of these crimes. Pope Francis, like his predecessor Benedict XVI, has promised zero tolerance on the issue.

*Alvise Armellini contributed to this report from Rome