Apr 11, 2010
Pope delayed punishing priest
<!-- by line --> <!-- end by line --> WASHINGTON - POPE Benedict XVI and his predecessor John Paul II both repeatedly delayed defrocking a priest who abused young boys and girls in California, The New York Times reported on Saturday. A series of letters released by attorney Jeff Anderson to AFP on Friday showed repeated misgivings concerning the conduct of California priest Stephen Kiesle raised by senior officials from the Oakland diocese during the early 1980s. John Cummins, the former bishop of Oakland, California asked that he be defrocked in 1981.
But four years later, the future Pope Benedict XVI, then a top Vatican official, said the case needed more time and that the final decision should consider 'the good of the Universal Church.' Bishop Cummins said the Vatican was very reluctant at the time to dismiss priests because so many were abandoning the priesthood. The late pope John Paul II also 'really slowed down the process and made it much more deliberate,' Bishop Cummins told the Times. Bishop Cummins sent a letter to the Vatican in June 1981 petitioning his superiors to defrock Kiesle, citing a 1978 court case where he had pleaded no contest to abusing six children aged between 11 and 13, according to the court documents obtained by AFP.
A further letter sent by Bishop Cummins in Feb 1982 to then-Cardinal Joseph Ratzinger - who at the time was responsible for enforcing Roman Catholic doctrine and went on to become Pope Benedict XVI in 2005 - again urged Kiesle to be defrocked. 'It is my conviction that there would be no scandal if this petition were granted,' Bishop Cummins wrote, warning there 'might be greater scandal to the community if Father Kiesle were allowed to return to the active ministry.' Kiesle was eventually defrocked in 1987. He later worked as a youth coordinator at a parish in Pinole, northern California for eight months, said Mr Anderson, who represented two of Kiesle's victims in a civil action against the Oakland Diocese. -- AFP
Pope delayed punishing priest
<!-- by line --> <!-- end by line --> WASHINGTON - POPE Benedict XVI and his predecessor John Paul II both repeatedly delayed defrocking a priest who abused young boys and girls in California, The New York Times reported on Saturday. A series of letters released by attorney Jeff Anderson to AFP on Friday showed repeated misgivings concerning the conduct of California priest Stephen Kiesle raised by senior officials from the Oakland diocese during the early 1980s. John Cummins, the former bishop of Oakland, California asked that he be defrocked in 1981.
But four years later, the future Pope Benedict XVI, then a top Vatican official, said the case needed more time and that the final decision should consider 'the good of the Universal Church.' Bishop Cummins said the Vatican was very reluctant at the time to dismiss priests because so many were abandoning the priesthood. The late pope John Paul II also 'really slowed down the process and made it much more deliberate,' Bishop Cummins told the Times. Bishop Cummins sent a letter to the Vatican in June 1981 petitioning his superiors to defrock Kiesle, citing a 1978 court case where he had pleaded no contest to abusing six children aged between 11 and 13, according to the court documents obtained by AFP.
A further letter sent by Bishop Cummins in Feb 1982 to then-Cardinal Joseph Ratzinger - who at the time was responsible for enforcing Roman Catholic doctrine and went on to become Pope Benedict XVI in 2005 - again urged Kiesle to be defrocked. 'It is my conviction that there would be no scandal if this petition were granted,' Bishop Cummins wrote, warning there 'might be greater scandal to the community if Father Kiesle were allowed to return to the active ministry.' Kiesle was eventually defrocked in 1987. He later worked as a youth coordinator at a parish in Pinole, northern California for eight months, said Mr Anderson, who represented two of Kiesle's victims in a civil action against the Oakland Diocese. -- AFP
