Pope Emeritus Benedict XVI fpassed away at 95 years old. In his eight years at the helm of the Vatican, a series of scandals dotted his papacy and led to the unprecedented and historic resignation in February 2013 that gave rise to his successor, Pope Francis.
On April 19, 2005, the former Bishop of Munich, whose given name is Joseph Aloisius Ratzingerwas chosen by the cardinals who voted in the conclave after the death of John Paul II, for which he became the seventh sovereign of Vatican City.
The 265th pope had to command the designs of the Catholic Church during one of the most difficult moments in its long history, due to the complaints for numerous crimes committed within the institution that damaged its image in the public eye.
While, his resignation on February 28, 2013, was considered “revolutionary” and exceptional in the history of the Church. It was associated with the pressure of the scandals that he had to face as head of state and of the church, despite the fact that Ratzinger himself assured that it was a personal decision caused by his health or “his declining forces”, as as he assured in a book of confidences revealed in 2016.
Since then, assumed the title of pope emeritus with the intention of dedicating himself to prayer and spiritual retreat due to his physical deterioration, which led to blindness.
Vatileaks: allegations of “corruption” and “mismanagement”
In 2012, the scandal known as “Vatileaks” broke out.in which an Italian television medium revealed the letters sent to Benedict XVI by the Papal Nuncio of the United States, Carlo María Vignanóin which he denounced “corruption” and “mismanagement”.
Far from staying there, the Italian Gianluigi Nuzzi published a book in May of that year with a hundred new leaked documents from the Vatican that sowed more doubts within the Holy See and compromised Ratzinger.
For this, the Vatican Justice decided to try the former butler of the pope Benedict, the Italian Paolo Gabriele. En su casa di lui, papers were found stolen from the papal apartment, as well as a check for 100,000 euros in the name of Benedict.
Besides, They found a gold nugget and a publication of the Aeneid of 1581. To defend himself, Gabriele confessed that he performed the “theft of secret documents” because he saw “evil and corruption in the Church”.
Cover-up of sexual abuse of minors
Another of the controversies that Ratzinger had to go through were the allegations of cover-up of sexual abuse of minors. Despite the fact that this situation became known after his papacy, he accused himself of Benedict XVI of having knowledge of violations that occurred before arriving at the Vatican.
Everything came to light after a report from the legal team was published Westpfahl Spilker Wastl about the cases of sexual abuse to minors that involved German religious and that collect almost 500 violations against minors.
The investigation put Ratzinger in the eye of the storm, since the report attributes the responsibility to the pope emeritus for not having acted when only four cases were known. At that time, he was serving as archbishop and had all the authority to remove the abuser from his position.
The abuses extended beyond the time when Ratzinger was archbishop of the region and they continued in activity in different parishes.
In this regard, through a letter published at the beginning of the year, expressed “the embarrassment and shame caused by the sexual abuse of minors committed by clergy” and manifested “his personal closeness and his prayers to all the victims some of whom he has met personally during his Apostolic journeys”.
Homosexuality, the “antichrist”
In a biography endorsed by the pope emeritus, Benedict XVI questioned gay marriage with the “devil”. In this sense, he considered that I saw in this type of relationship the work of the “antichrist”.
“A hundred years ago it would have been considered absurd to talk about gay marriage, today we are excommunicated when we oppose it“, shot and assured that The same thing happens when talking about “abortion” or “the creation of humans in the laboratory” in a clear allusion to children born from in vitro fertilization.
The Vatican defended Pope Benedict XVI, accused of inaction against pedophilia
Thus, he stated: “Modern society is formulating a creed to the antichrist that involves excommunication from society when one opposes”.
“The crime of solicitation”
Ratzinger, as prefect of John Paul II, was one of the main architects of the regulation of the “crime of solicitation”that is, the commission of a serious sin or crime that goes against the sixth commandment.
Despite the fact that before the bishops were the ones who had the authority to decide the future of those who committed these crimes, the Vatican Tribunal exclusively assumed the power to rule on these issues. This provoked much criticism from the bishops, as they considered that it “unfairly” took away their power.
The Vatican justified the decision in which some bishops protected the priests, but the situation did not improve once the Holy See had the exclusivity to prosecute to priests who committed crimes such as sexual abuse of minors.
Ratzinger lived 95 years, eight of which he served as the highest authority of the Catholic Church. Similarly, his religious career was much longer and he was marked by many more controversies than mentioned.
Ground floor / CDI / ED
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