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Ex-Pope Benedict Asks Abuse Victims to Forgive ‘Grievous Faults’

The retired pontiff has responded to allegations he allowed rampant sexual abuse while serving as head of the Munich diocese.

Retired Pope Benedict XVI has begged for forgiveness for any “grievous faults” in his handling of sexual-abuse allegations in the Catholic Church, but he denied any personal wrongdoing. “I have had great responsibilities in the Catholic Church. All the greater is my pain for the abuses and the errors that occurred in those different places during the time of my mandate,” he said in a statement. The retired pontiff’s comments came in response to allegations by a German law firm that he allowed rampant sexual abuse to take place while he served as head of the church’s Munich diocese before he became pope. The report, which also singled out his successors and predecessors, concluded that sexual abuse in the church had left a trail of nearly 500 victims. There were an estimated 235 alleged perpetrators. The former pontiff’s remarks came days after he appeared to admit he was aware of allegations against a priest accused of abusing 23 boys, despite previously pleading ignorance.