The Catholic Church has confronted claims of sexual abuse via clergy for a few years. With the new passing of former Pope Benedict XVI, who used to be pontiff between 2005-2013, many on-line teams are sharing blended reactions to his lifestyles and papal tenure.
Some accuse the overdue Pope of failing to take vital motion over the sexual abuse claims that rocked the church each earlier than and all through his time as pontiff.
In a commentary from the Survivors Network of the ones Abused via Priests (SNAP) after Benedict’s demise, the previous pope used to be without delay accused of being an ‘abuse enabler’.
The workforce went on to mention that “Benedict was more concerned about the church’s deteriorating image and financial flow”, than making “true amends to victims of abuse”.
Some sufferers’ teams have additionally raised questions over his time as Archbishop of Munich within the Seventies and Nineteen Eighties.
In early 2022, a record commissioned via the Catholic Church in Munich accused the then Cardinal Joseph Ratzinger, as Benedict used to be identified earlier than turning into pope, of mishandling circumstances of sexual abuse involving monks below his duty.
While Benedict has at all times denied any non-public wrongdoing, he did recognize that “abuses and errors” have been made.
The record known a minimum of 497 sufferers, greater than part of whom have been elderly between 6 and 14.
Some folks on-line sought to shield the file of Benedict, crediting him with beginning the method of kicking out or ‘defrocking’ abusive monks within the church. He steadily spoke about intercourse abuse in public speeches, announcing he sought after to eliminate the “filth” within the organisation.
However, many sufferers and sufferer teams have argued that he merely didn’t pass some distance sufficient to deal with the dimensions and severity of the crimes dedicated.
For those folks, former Pope Benedict XVI’s demise isn’t a second to reward his lengthy lifestyles, however a painful reminder of tragic occasions.