The Endless Hunt after Ratzinger

Pope Benedict’s enemies have never relented.  He remains for them the mortal enemy – in the past but also now. Does not his continued presence act in some way as a restraint – if not a very effective one – on Bergoglio? One apparent response of the clerical establishment was Frederic Martel’s In the Closet of the Vatican (2019), which features defamatory insinuations regarding Pope Benedict, Gänswein, Cardinal Burke and Cardinal Muller. The author seems to have enjoyed discrete Vatican cooperation in his “research” – up to a point. 

In Benedict’s homeland of Germany, the situation is far worse. Earlier this year a massive study was released on clerical sexual abuse in the Archdiocese of Munich. Of course, the main focus and purpose of the study was Ratzinger’s tenure as Archbishop, and even his handling of one specific case, Fr. “H” (his real name can be found by searching English language media). Of course, Pope Benedict did himself no favors with his implausible responses, fashioned by his incompetent legal and public relations team. Probably the truth of the matter is that Ratzinger was doing the same as all his colleagues in the episcopacy. The reactions of the German media, both secular and Catholic, were hysterical, and it was even suggested that Pope Benedict might be sentenced to a life of “prayer and penitence.”

Now, a German court has initiated a procedure directing Pope Benedict, the Vatican, the Archdiocese of Munich and some others to submit written responses regarding a claim of one of the victims of Fr H. This abuse happened in the 1990’s but the victim alleges Ratzinger shares responsibility by introducing this priest into the Munich archdiocese in 1980. I do not hold myself out as an expert in German civil procedure, but several things must be emphasized immediately. First of all, this is a civil, not a criminal case. Second, the action taken was not at the initiative of the court but was a consequence of the filing by the civil claim by the alleged victim. Third, the court’s action seems to be like our practice of discovery. It is intended to ascertain if facts exist that would support the claim of the plaintiff and permit his case to go forward. Now what is interesting is that, under German law, the plaintiff apparently can pursue his case even if his substantive claim has been barred by the statute of limitations (by the passage of time). Under German law, a civil claim can be pursued simply to have a court reach a determination regarding the facts of a case even if no damages can be obtained.

The purpose of this claim is perhaps just to force the Catholic Church, and Pope Benedict himself, to respond “on the record” to the court’s inquiry. One response would be to assert the statute of limitations. But this might be embarrassing for Pope Benedict and the Catholic Church to do, because they might be seen as relying on a technicality of procedural law to avoid responsibility.

The court’s action, of course, once more aroused a storm of agitation against Pope Benedict in the German media – including those of the German Catholic Church. It is one thing for someone to bring a civil action against Pope Benedict; it is another to have the facts reviewed by a court pursuant to a kind of summons. Andrea Titz (sic!) is acting as the spokeswoman for the court having jurisdiction of this case. She is a judge and somewhat of a local celebrity in her own right, having been involved in a number of high-profile legal cases in the German state of Bavaria. These prominent forces in the media and the legal bureaucracy assure that this case will continue to generate adverse publicity and embarrassment for Pope Benedict.

Poor Pope Benedict! His enemies give him no respite. Like Cardinal Zen, he must experience even in his last years the truth that “the life of man upon earth is a warfare.” (Job 7:1)

On the entire legal situation, see this article (in German) in CORRECTIV.

On the nature of the court’s recent action (in the German Wikipedia): Feststellungsklage

On Andrea Titz: German Wikipedia