“..Pope knew priest was paedophile .. but allowed him to continue with ministry ..”

“..The Pope was drawn directly into the Roman Catholic sex abuse scandal for the first time tonight ..

.. as news emerged of his part in a decision to send a paedophile priest for therapy.

The priest went on to reoffend .. and was convicted of child abuse .. but continues to work as priest in Upper Bavaria.

The priest was sent from Essen to Munich for “therapy” in 1980 when he was accused of forcing an 11-year-old boy to perform oral sex.

The archdiocese confirmed that the Pope, then a cardinal, had approved a decision to accommodate the priest in a rectory while the therapy took place.

The priest, identified only as “H”, was subsequently convicted of sexually abusing minors after he was moved to pastoral work in nearby Grafing.

In 1986 he was given an 18-month suspended prison sentence and fined 4,000 marks ($2,800 in today’s money).

There have been no formal accusations against him since.

The church has been accused of a cover-up after at least 170 accusations of child abuse by German Catholic priests.

The scandal broke in January but the claims, which continue to emerge, span three decades.

Critics say that priests were redeployed to other parishes rather than fired .. when they were found to be abusing children..”

go to source/story>>Pope knew priest was paedophile but allowed him to continue with ministry -Times Online