In an article that is sure to elicit anger among the defenders of the Vatican, the German newspaper Spiegel today continues probing what Ratzinger knew when about abuse cases, as archbishop of Munich. Conny Neumann and Peter Wensierski write that, despite the attempt of church officials to shield Ratzinger from any responsibility for the decision to keep Fr. Peter Hullerman in active ministry in the Munich diocese after credible allegations of sexual abuse were made against him, Ratzinger was clearly involved in the decision to permit Hullerman to continue in ministry (and see also this article in Mitteldeutsche Zeitung).
It would be far better for the church if
1) Pope Benedict (and those seeking to shield him) simply told the truth about his involvement in the Hullerman case;
2) Defenders of the faith stopped acting as if the church stands or falls on whether a pope or pope to be can do wrong or make a mistake;
3) Defenders of the faith stopped suggesting that the truth itself is an enemy of the church, and that those seeking the truth about these matters are out to destroy the church;
4) The church's leaders got on with the real business of the gospel, following the unsavory revelations about the abuse crisis--repenting, telling the truth, aiming at transparency and accountability, healing the wounded, protecting the weak, loving tenderly, doing justice, and walking humbly with God.
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