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From the Archdiocese of Dublin, the Primate of Ireland and now the Supreme Pontiff, allegations of involvement in the cover up of child abuse have been directed at them all.
When reading the stories regarding the role played by Cardinal Brady in the Father Smyth case and the role the Pope was in, when he was in Cardinal in Munich there seems to be a strange similarity.
In 1975 Cardinal Brady was not the the bishop, he was only carrying out orders. While the then Cardinal Ratzinger, was in charge of of the Archdiocese of Munich and Freising in 1982 and the issue of Father Hullermann and the allegations were raised.
Both are claiming they did the right thing and should not resign, they both can’t be right
The silence coming from the Vatican is not exactly a comforting sign for those who have been abused by members of the Catholic Church. Just like the statement from the Catholic Church in Ireland, trying to defend the indefensible hasn’t helped here.
Should one or both of them go?
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- Brady under pressure to resign over Smyth claims (irishexaminer.com)
- Irish Catholic leader in ‘cover-up’ (news.bbc.co.uk)
- Vatican says bid to link pope to abuse issue failed (calgaryherald.com)
- The Pope: The Sex Abuse Crisis Gets Closer and Closer (andrewsullivan.theatlantic.com)
Thank you for your post on this recent series of uncovered abuses in Ireland and in other areas around Europe. You point out that Pope Benedict, at that time Cardinal Ratzinger, was in charge of overseeing both Munich and Freising and has been accused of covering up priestly sexual abuse.
I think you will find the following video interesting and relevant to this discussion:
http://www.newsy.com/videos/abuse-scandals-put-spotlight-on-the-pope