WHILE secular journalists have been using a sex-abuse case in the Munich Archdiocese in efforts to form a direct link to Pope Benedict XVI, emerging details of the case show clearly that the future pontiff was not involved in appointing the accused molester to do parish work.
Meanwhile, the Munich Archdiocese has suspended the priest at the centre of the scandal, explaining that he has violated an agreement not to have contact with young people. The priest was serving in the Bavarian resort town of Bad Tolz when the suspension was announced.
The priest, previously known only as “H” but now identified in a New York Times account as Peter Hullermann, was a priest in the Essen Diocese in 1980 when he was first accused of sexual misconduct.
At the time, then-Cardinal Ratzinger was Archbishop of Munich.
The New York Times reported: “The future Pope approved his transfer to Munich.”
That sentence is grossly misleading; the Times neglects to add the crucial fact that Cardinal Ratzinger approved the accused priest’s entry into a counselling programme in Munich; he did not approve him for a parish assignment.
As officials both in Munich and at the Vatican had previously explained, the vicar-general of the Munich Archdiocese later allowed Fr Hullerman to work in a parish.
The Vicar General has stated that he made this decision without the knowledge – let alone approval – of Cardinal Ratzinger.
Fr Hullerman was given a parish assignment in September 1982 – seven months after Cardinal Ratzinger resigned his post as Archbishop of Munich, having taken up his new responsibilities as Prefect of the Congregation for the Doctrine of the Faith.
An official of the Archdiocese of Munich and Freising responsible for Peter Hullermann has also now resigned.
Fr Joseph Obermeier, head of pastoral care for the Archdiocese, resigned on 15 March at the request of Archbishop Reinhard Marx, according to an Archdiocesan statement.
The Archdiocese said Fr Obermeier was asked to resign because he had not fulfilled his duties in monitoring the priest’s activities.
While he was undergoing treatment, Fr Gerhard Gruber, Vicar General at the time, assigned Fr Hullermann to a Munich parish.
Fr Gruber took “full responsibility” for the assignment on 12 March, saying that the future Pope Benedict knew nothing about it, according to a statement from the Vatican.
After his treatment concluded in September 1982, Fr Hullermann was assigned as associate pastor of a parish in Grafing. While assigned there, new allegations of abuse arose in January 1985, resulting in charges of child sexual abuse being filed against the priest.
Fr Hullermann was convicted and fined about US$1,000 and sentenced to 18 months’ probation.
German daily Sueddeutsche Zeitung reported on 13 March that Fr Hullermann was assigned to a parish ministry that allowed him to be in contact with children, including Mass servers, following his conviction. The assignments included a year as chaplain at a retirement home and associate pastor and then administrator of a parish in Garching/Alz.
In May 2008, Fr Hullermann left the parish at the request of Archbishop Marx and was assigned as chaplain at the congregation in Bad Tolz, the Archdiocese said.
Archdiocesan officials were unaware of any incidents of abuse after the 1986 conviction, according to the Archdiocese.
- Catholic World News