RECENT DATA: While he was in office, Pope Benedict XVI fired at least 571 priests over four years. All were found guilty of child molestation under canon law of the Roman Catholic Church and were terminated.
Of that number, 400
were defrocked in 2011 and 2012. That represents an increase of 134% over the
171 men who were fired in 2008 and 2009.
This information came to light this week as Archbishop
Silvano Tomasi appeared before the United Nations Committee on Human Rights, a
U.N. panel looking into the matter. Tomasi is the Vatican’s U.N .ambassador.
BACKGROUND: Before he was elevated to
the papacy, Benedict XVI – then-Cardinal Joseph Ratzinger -- took action in his
role as Prefect of the Congregation for the Doctrine of the Faith, after he
determined “that bishops around the world
weren’t following church law (by putting)
accused clerics on trial in church tribunals.”
