The lawyer Ulrich Wastl, who deals with the clarification of cases of abuse in the Archdiocese of Munich and Freising, sees the announced destruction of records of the late Pope Benedict XVI. critical. “This would be a slap in the face for a well-founded investigation,” said Wastl, whose law firm had submitted an abuse report on behalf of the archdiocese a year ago, of the “Süddeutsche Zeitung” (Thursday). “But it would also be harmful for the church. There were only questions left, such as: Was there such a request from the deceased pope at all? Is it again just about the one-sided sovereignty of interpretation? What needs to be hidden?”
At the beginning of January, Benedict XVI’s private secretary, Archbishop Georg Gänswein, announced in a recently published book that the late former pope had instructed him to destroy all notes after his death. A declaratory action is currently being taken by a suspected abuse victim from Garching an der Alz in Upper Bavaria, which is intended to clarify whether Joseph Ratzinger, later Pope Benedict XVI, as Archbishop of Munich (1977-1982) was obliged to pay damages through his actions or omissions in a case of abuse would.
“…I have my doubts about that”
Lawyer Wastl told the “Süddeutsche Zeitung” that Ratzinger was interested in clarification and reappraisal, “there were at least many regulations in this direction. I have my doubts as to whether they were vigorously pursued.” At the time, the lawyers at the Munich law firm Westpfahl Spilker Wastl presented Benedict XVI’s allegation in their report. questioned that in 1980 he knew nothing of the past history of the priest in question as an abuser.
As far as the further clarification of cases of abuse in the Archdiocese of Munich and Freising is concerned, he still sees room for improvement, said Wastl. Some communities need more support. “The diocese leadership should have gone there much earlier and asked the people: How are you? Of course, some of these active lay people are overwhelmed. An external crisis intervention team would be needed, made up of people who are not primarily on the diocese’s payroll. “
According to Wastl, state support for dealing with sexual abuse in the church would also be “very useful”. “Perhaps the church as an institution stands in its own way because it still believes in the power of self-healing. But that doesn’t work.” (KNA)
