Celibacy & Sex Abuse | Pope Denies Multiple Rumors

RedTracker| Pope Benedict has denied claims that the Vatican is secretly planning to scrap the rule of celibacy in 50 years.

Many news outlets, here quoted Business Week via Bloomberg News, say that the Catholic Church is studying ways to change its centuries-old requirement that priests abstain from sex. Rome-based la Repubblica reported today. Brazilian Cardinal Claudio Hummes, who once said “celibacy is not a dogma,” is in charge of the project as head the congregation of the clergy, according to the report. via Business Week

Pope Benedict XVI met today with the head of the German Catholic Church as paedophile priest scandals swept Germany, one coming close to the pontiff’s brother Georg Ratzinger, a former choirmaster.

In 2001 when Benedict was head of the Vatican’s doctrinal watchdog he ordered that paedophilia cases be reported to the Holy See. Pope Benedict’s supporters say that he suspected that many national hierarchies preferred to look the other way in matters of sex abuse by priests. The Pope’s critics argue that he wanted to shroud a veil of Vatican silence around the issue.

Archbishop of Vienna Christoph Schoenborn called for an unflinching examination of the possible roots of child sex abuse by priests, citing training, “the question of what happened in the so-called sexual revolution (and) the issue of priest celibacy and the issue of personality development.” via AFP

The Christian Science Monitor confirms widesread reports that the German sex abuse scandal is coming very close to Pope Benedict himself. We’ve already written about his brother Georg Ratzinger, who has admitted physically striking choir children but denies knowledge of any sex abuse.

Two investigations are going on in Germany.

When asked if Pope Benedict, who served as bishop of Munich from 1977 to 1982, had any direct knowledge of the allegations of abuse, German Bishop’s Conference spokesman Karl Juesten told the Associated Press, “We do not know if the pope knew about the abuse cases at the time.” via Christian Science Monitor Will German Catholic church abuse case reach Pope Benedict?

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