In January revelations broke about sexual abuse at Canisius College, a Jesuit-run high school in Berlin. At least 50 cases of abuse were reported that involved incidents at the college from the 70's and 80's. Following this, hundreds of allegations of abuse at other institutions surfaced elsewhere in Germany. A Times magazine article noted that 'twenty two out of Germany's 27 Roman Catholic diocese have been affected by the scandal.'
In his role as Archbishop of Munich (1977-1982), how much did Joseph Ratzinger know about the sexual abuse that was clearly a serious problem in the German church at that time. More to the point, what was his precise role in the case of a priest named Peter Hullerman - a serial abuser of boys? Did church officials attempt to shield the pope by essentially scapegoating Ratzinger's former Munich deputy, vicar-general Gerhard Gruber?
In 1979 Peter Hullerman admitted to sexually abusing boys. In one case he reportedly fed an 11-year old boy alcohol before coaxing the child to engage in oral sex. This being the Roman Catholic church such crimes were kept in the closet and dealt with internally.
While receiving psychiatric treatment, Hullerman lived in a parish house in Ratzinger's Munich diocese. Even though his psychiatrist warned church authorities that the priest should not be allowed to work with children, Hullerman was assigned to unrestricted pastoral ministry in the parish of St. Johannes Evangelist.
We know Ratzinger was aware of Hullerman and his criminal history because he (Ratzinger) chaired a meeting on January 15, 1980, during which Hullerman's living arrangements and therapy were discussed. Despite the pope's knowledge of the case the diocese has been turning cartwheels in an effort to distance the pope from the affair.
A Der Spiegel article describes events following Hullerman's reassignment :
In the town of Grafing near Munich, H. again sexually abused several pupils. In 1986, a local court in Ebersberg in Bavaria handed out an 18-month suspended prison sentence and a 4,000 deutsche mark fine to H. He was also convicted of distributing pornographic materials.
Church officials then simply transferred the pedophile from Grafing to Garching -- but apparently without informing the parish there of his history. Once again, children at his new place of work complained that their priest always kissed them on the mouth -- a practice they found disgusting. Mothers complained to the parish council, but nothing happened. Wilfried Fesselmann, 41, was 11 at the time of the alleged abuse. The priest was transferred again, this time to his current place of residence in the town of Bad Tölz. Once again no warning was issued to the new parish, where the priest was able to conduct church services with the young people of the area. And it was not until last week that H. was finally suspended from priestly service.
The Hullerman case became a hot topic earlier in the year especially as it was becoming clear that the scandal was getting close to the pope. Der Spiegel cited a letter written by Gerhard Gruber in which he claimed that he had been made the target of telephone badgering by the archdiocese "begging" him to take full responsibility for the affair. He was even faxed a prepared statement to sign.
The diocese has admitted that Ratzinger was partly responsible for the decisions involving Hullerman, but has attempted to deflect the bulk of responsibility onto Gruber. The statement released by the archdiocese states that "Gruber accepts full responsibility for the incorrect decisions". A spokesman for the archdiocese also said that Gruber had "acted on his own authority".
Gruber says the statement that he "acted on his own authority" was never discussed with him - a claim he has challenged in an open letter. In the letter he also said he was "very upset" about the way in which "incidents were portrayed" by the archdiocese.
