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His former archdiocese acknowledged it transferred a suspected paedophile priest while Pope Benedict was in charge -- as criticism mounted over a 2001 Vatican directive he penned instructing bishops to keep abuse cases secret.
The Pope agreed to send a priest for therapy in 1980 for allegedly forcing an 11-year-old boy to engage in oral sex. The priest was secretly shifted from Essen to Munich, which was Cardinal Ratzinger's See.
The church has been accused of a cover-up after over 300 allegations of child abuse by German Catholic priests.
However, the Archdiocese of Munich and Freising last night rallied to play down Pope Benedict's role in the scandal.
The Vatican instructed Catholic bishops around the world to cover up cases of sexual abuse or risk being thrown out of the Church. The Observer has obtained a 40-year-old confidential document from the secret Vatican archive which lawyers are calling a 'blueprint for deception and concealment'. One British lawyer acting for Church child abuse victims has described it as 'explosive'...
...Lawyers point to a letter the Vatican sent to bishops in May 2001 clearly stating the 1962 instruction was in force until then. The letter is signed by Cardinal Ratzinger, the most powerful man in Rome beside the Pope and who heads the Congregation for the Doctrine of the Faith - the office which ran the Inquisition in the Middle Ages.