Vatican defends Benedict after report faults abuse record

By NICOLE WINFIELD
Associated Press

ROME (AP) — The Vatican is strongly defending Pope Benedict XVI’s record in fighting clergy sexual abuse after an independent report faulted his handling of four cases of abuse when he was archbishop of Munich, Germany. The Holy See’s editorial director, Andrea Tornielli, recalled that Benedict was the first pope to meet with victims of abuse. He noted that Benedict had issued strong norms to punish priests who raped children and had directed the church to pursue a path of humility in seeking forgiveness for the crimes of its clerics. A German law firm released the lengthy report last week that had been commissioned by the German church to look into how cases of sexual abuse were handled in the archdiocese between 1945 and 2019.