Archbishop Georg Ganswein grants interview to EWTN.
Newsroom (21/02/2022 10:00, Gaudium Press) In an important interview with EWTN’s Andreas Thonhauser, Benedict XVI’s personal secretary, Archbishop Georg Ganswein, shared some details of the Pope Emeritus’ response to the abuse report of the Archdiocese of Munich.
The prelate spoke of Benedict XVI’s pioneering work within the Church against the plague of abuse, including against the resistance of certain Vatican authorities.
Monsignor Ganswein reported that the Pope Emeritus is well, and that it is true that with his response a weight has been lifted from his shoulders.
Archbishop Ganswein ratified the unintentional human error about the participation of the Pope Emeritus in the meeting in 1980, in which the transfer of an abusive priest from the Diocese of Essen to the Archdiocese of Munich was decided. At that meeting, it was not decided to give this priest any pastoral position, but that he was received for therapeutic treatment in the Archdiocese, something that was requested by the Diocese of Essen. At that meeting, they only discussed whether or not the request should be accepted. Cardinal Ratzinger agreed to accommodate him for treatment, that was all. The reason for the priest’s treatment was not discussed at that meeting.
Msgr. Ganswein also recounted some background to Pope Benedict’s participation in the drafting of the Munich Archdiocese Abuse Report.
Benedict was asked if he wanted to participate in that report, to which he replied that he had nothing to hide and would gladly do so. He was then given 20 pages of questions and could consult the documentation on which the questions were based.
A professor in Rome reviewed the digital documentation, but without being able to copy and paste excerpts from the 8,000 pages, only making notes in the margin. The digital information was not handed over initially, but only after a request. Subsequently, everything was put into a logical sequence in relation to the questions. The consultants then drew up a first draft of the answers at which the Pope Emeritus “took a first look”. Within this first draft was the error, which no one noticed, and in the end, 82 pages of response were sent.
Archbishop Ganswein revealed that it was Benedict XVI himself who decided that there should be, in response to the Munich Abuse Report and the ensuing media scandal, a personal letter from him and a more legal document. The Monsignor pointed out that the letter, in which Benedict expresses his pain at having been called a liar, was written in the presence of God, before the tribunal which, because of his age, will soon come to pass.
Ratzinger, always the same against abuse
The prelate stated that since he begun working with Benedict XVI in 1996, Pope Ratzinger has always maintained the same stance on the issue of abuse: “He was always convinced that transparency and clarity were necessary; that he had to call a spade a spade; that nothing should be covered up. And he did that with John Paul II, trying to make sure that his actions followed his convictions.”
In the Vatican and due to Ratzinger’s decisive action, “there was a change of mentality, which, as was necessary, was followed by a change on the legal level“.
To these changes “there was internal reluctance. There was a resistance that showed itself very openly. But [Ratzinger] always knew that this resistance could and should be overcome with the help of Pope John Paul II, and it was, thank God.” He always moved towards these modifications, both in the Congregation for the Doctrine of the Faith and as Pope, the Archbishop said.
Archbishop Ganswein noted the animosity towards Ratzinger, particularly from some media, a media that does not know the facts nor does not want to know them.
The Synodal Way
On the supposed relationship between the publication of the Report and the objectives wanted and desired by the so-called German Synodal Way, Archbishop Ganswein only replied that, far from speculation, “certain objectives to which the German Synodal Way aspires are something in which the person and work of Benedict stand as an obstacle.”
Archbishop Ganswein reported that he was able to observe the texts that have recently been approved by the Synodal Way and where they lead. Referring to these texts, he said that “if they want a different Church, so to speak, that is no longer based on Revelation, and if they want a different structure of the Church that is no longer sacramental but pseudo-democratic, then I must see that this no longer has to do with the Catholic understanding, with Catholic ecclesiology, with the Catholic understanding of the Church.”
Compiled by Sandra Chisholm