The Last Siege of Ratzinger – ilGiornale.it

attacks Joseph Ratzinger They do not know the end. Despite the temporal distance from the end of the papacy, the Bavarian theologian is still subjected to a barrage relating not only to the period of the presidency of the Church, but also to the previous one.

The latest attack relates to chronological order an alleged realization of the highly sensitive front of sexual assault within the Church. And what’s more, in Germany, the birthplace of the Pope Emeritus. Benedict XVIHis accusers say, He was aware of the accusations against the priest in charge of the diocese of Munich Freising of pedophilia. The position to which Professor Tübingen was assigned at the beginning of his career.

The news made headlines after an email from the German magazine was published who knows On the behavior of Peter Hollermann. According to the research, a “non-judicial decree” issued by the Ecclesiastical Court of the Diocese of Munich and Freising in 2016 would contain heavy criticism of the archbishops for not stopping the pastor accused in 23 cases of palace abuse that occurred between 1973 and 1996. Among the prominent figures in the Diocese, there was also Ratzinger, who was Archbishop of Munich and Freising from 1977 to 1982.

Benedict XVI’s private secretary, Monsignor George GaensweinIt took only a short time to respond to these accusations from the German magazine. “The assertion that he (Joseph Ratzinger, editor) was aware of the background (allegations of sexual abuse) at the time of his father H’s confession, is false. He was not aware of these prior facts,” Bishop noted, as I mentioned before forget. But it seems that the case will lead to more problems within the German Church, especially towards Benedict XVI. Also another German newspaper, womanAlready ten years ago the theologian was accused of “stronger” involvement in the case. A decade later, the accusations resurfaced.

According to Benedict’s defenders, the accusations were nipped in the bud. However, Pope Emeritus, who has abdicated the throne of Peter for several years now, does not seem to have been forgotten by his opponents, especially in Germany, who do not miss an opportunity to try to question the character of the consecrated person who foretold so much of the ecclesiastical future and beyond.

Moreover, the “attack on Ratzinger” type became popular already during the papacy. From the first part of Father leaks, which in relation to the work of Benedict XVI represents a real common attack, and runs through the hatred expressed by many media outlets that often describe him as a “German Shepherd” or a “dedicated darkness” and unable – as some believe – to meet the challenges of the future With new categories: the “moderate theologian” in Tübingen did not have a simple “mandate”, and could not rely on “good journalism”. The same thing which sometimes facilitates the tasks of those called to manage the institutions of the world.

From criticism of the position expressed on the use of condoms in Africa to the case of the remarkable Regensburg speech: The list – of course – would be very long and could only be exhaustive. So it is useful to delve into what has happened recently: it was Benedict XVI who sparked a Teutonic strategy aimed at ensuring that the previous pope would silence himself. “They want to silence me,” Ratzinger said a few years ago, referring to some of the attacks coming from his home country.

By contextualizing this, perhaps it becomes easier to understand more of the ‘why’: in catholic church There are fairly self-evident wars that are often fought with weapons similar to those used in politics. There are those who attack and those who defend themselves. The truth can be a loser.