While some Catholic commentators have thrown Pope Benedict XVI under the bus after media distortions of recent developments regarding abuse in German church, others have taken the time to study the case for themselves.
Liberal Catholic commentators have been all too quick to call Benedict XVI ‘tone deaf’ for merely defending himself, dismissing his explanation of events as a ‘non apology’. This is despite Benedict insisting that he had been given the support of Pope Francis in this matter:
To me it proved deeply hurtful that this oversight was used to cast doubt on my truthfulness, and even to label me a liar. At the same time, I have been greatly moved by the varied expressions of trust, the heartfelt testimonies and the moving letters of encouragement sent to me by so many persons. I am particularly grateful for the confidence, support and prayer that Pope Francis personally expressed to me.
One voice that has strongly stood up for the pope is Czech Cardinal Dominik Duka OP, who has released a powerful statement questioning the Archbishop of Munich for his role in assigning blame to Benedict, when the priest in question was not under his jurisdiction, but that of the Diocese of Essen.
Read Cardinal Duka’s remarks below:
''The publication of the Pope's letter is truly a glimpse into the soul of a priest, bishop and pope who is reflecting back on his life but no longer has the strength to comment on all its particulars.
What follows is an analysis by the experts mentioned above, who show us line by line how the so-called blessing is handled in the Archdiocese of Munich. For me, this is one of the greatest disappointments I have experienced in our Roman Catholic Church. To denigrate a person, to denounce him unjustly and not even to give him the opportunity to evaluate this so-called blessing, which must have cost hundreds of thousands of euros, because it does not give the possibility of a legal reprieve? I ask: what is that?
In my article, which will appear in the German magazine Die Tagespost, I point out the following fact: that from the entire record, any priest who has studied church law, or even a layman who has graduated from a theological faculty and attended a course in church law, must understand that the then Archbishop of Munich, Joseph Ratzinger, had no jurisdiction and no possibility of resolving this case in any way - the priest X. in question was a priest of the diocese of Essen.
Therefore, I protest and indeed take the liberty of calling the Archbishop of Munich, his curia, and the President of the German Bishops' Conference to account for the defamation and tarnishing of the reputation of Pope Benedict XVI!
Dominik Cardinal Duka, Archbishop of Prague