Vatican defends pope’s record on sexual abuse

While still a cardinal, Pope Benedict XVI sought in vain to expedite
the process for defrocking priests guilty of grave crimes, according to a
1988 letter published in the official Vatican newspaper. The letter,
which appears in the December 2 edition of L'Osservatore Romano, could have important implications for the pope's record on child sexual abuse.

The
letter appears in an article by Bishop Juan Ignacio Arrieta, the no. 2
official at the Vatican's Pontifical Council for the Interpretation of
Legislative Texts. Arrieta said the letter recently resurfaced during
preparations for a planned revision of the Catholic Church's system of
penal law.

Known at the time as Cardinal Joseph Ratzinger,
Benedict wrote in February 1988 to the then head of the council seeking a
"more rapid and simplified procedure" for removing priests found
"guilty of grave and scandalous behavior." Ratzinger, head of the
Vatican's Congre­gation for the Doctrine of the Faith at the time,
evaluated requests from ordained men seeking dispensation from their
priestly obligations, including celibacy.