When Father Stephen Kiesle of Oakland, California was accused of sexually molesting two young boys, the bishop in Oakland notified the Vatican immediately. Despite the Oakland diocese's fast action, it took a few years for the Vatican to address the case.
The Associated Press reported that it obtained documents that indicate Cardinal Ratzinger, who was in charge of reviewing pedophile priest cases for the Vatican, resisted defrocking Kiesle. It is widely speculated that Cardinal Ratzinger, who is now Pope Benedict, delayed defrocking Kiesle because he wanted to protect the "the good of the universal church."
The Vatican claims Ratzinger did not intentionally postpone defrocking Kielse, but some of the documents that the AP obtained include letters that suggest otherwise.
Attorney Irwin Zalkin of the Zalkin Law Firm is suing the diocese on behalf of some of Kiesle's victims, and had this to say about Ratzinger's actions:
"The pattern and practice of Cardinal Ratzinger was to delay the process because there was a concern that if all of the sudden you're laicising numbers of priests, somebody is going to start asking questions... And so it would be in their best interest for this process to drag on, for there to be a sort of a serial way of letting these guys go over time, that it wouldn't be as apparent that something was wrong."
The attorneys at the Zalkin Law Firm are committed to helping victims of clergy abuse seek justice for the wrongdoing that has been committed against them. If you or someone you know needs a knowledgeable and dedicated clergy abuse attorney, please contact the Zalkin Law Firm at 800-724-3235.
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