Former Pope Benedict died at the age of 95. The Vatican announced this. Benedict died at the Mater Ecclesia Monastery. His health was very bad for a long time. Pope Benedict XVI (XVI) shocked Catholics around the world by resigning in 2013.
Then he had said – I am resigning due to deteriorating health. This was the first time in nearly 600 years that a pope had stepped down. According to CNN, Gregory XII resigned in 1415, before Benedict. However, then the reason was a quarrel between two groups of Christians.
What was the purpose of the investigation?
The role of another archbishop, who is currently a close aide of the current Pope, Pope Francis, has also been questioned. In this case, the Church itself initiated the investigation. This German law firm was given the responsibility to investigate the cases that happened during 1945 to 2019. He was specifically instructed to see whether those in high positions in the Church carried out their responsibilities properly or not.
The four cases in which the former Pope was accused of negligence are all related to child abuse. Then Benedict was named Joseph Rettinger and he was the archbishop of the Munich Church. He held this position from 1977 to 1982. It is alleged that these crimes were committed while he was archbishop. Not only this, all those who were accused continued to work in important positions in the church.
Now the Vatican’s laws are strict
The report alleged that Cardinal Reinhard, Archbishop of Munich, did not act in two cases. Marx also offered his resignation to Pope Francis in June 2021 in this matter. Francis did not accept the resignation. A few days before this, he had made changes in the Vatican’s criminal law. The law was made very strict in cases of sexual abuse.
