Former Pope Benedict’s sudden resignation is speculated by many to have stemmed from rampant child abuse. These accusations are supported by a number of witnesses and a shocking story that got no air time in the mainstream media — that the former Pope Benedict’s brother abused at least 231 children at a catholic boys choir.

https://s7.postimg.org/k1r96mqaj/fabf76df6ba59ccfac7b50fbc4c34b51fdb25b2b.jpg

Pope Benedict XVI attends a concert by the Domspatzen choir with his brother Georg Ratzinger at the Sistine Chapel in the Vatican on October 22, 2005

The Domspatzen, a 1,000-year-old choir in Regensburg, Bavaria, was dragged into the massive sexual abuse scandal plaguing the Catholic Church in 2010, when allegations of assaults that took place several decades ago went public.

The choir was run by Pope Benedict's elder brother, Georg Ratzinger, from 1964 to 1994 when most of the claimed abuses took place.

Lawyer Ulrich Weber, who had been commissioned by the diocese to look into the cases, said at a press conference that his research, which included 70 interviews with victims, uncovered abuse that took place from 1945 to the early 1990s.

Their was 231 reports of physical abuse.

These ranged from sexual assault to rape, severe beatings and food deprivation.

"50 victims spoke of ten perpetrators".

The director and composer Franz Wittenbrink, a former pupil of the boarding school, had told Spiegel magazine in 2010 that there was an "system of sadistic punishments connected to sexual pleasure".

The German scandal is one of several to have rocked the Catholic Church in recent years, notably in Ireland where one priest admitted sexually abusing more than 100 children.

Several German institutions have also been engulfed by the scandal, including an elite Jesuit school in Berlin which had admitted to systematic sexual abuse of pupils by two priests in the 1970s and 1980s. theguardian.com

Most of the priests concerned did not face criminal charges, because the alleged crimes took place too long ago.

But there had been calls for a change in the law and for the church to pay compensation to victims.

In February 2015, the Regensburg diocese had said there were 72 victims of abuse, and had offered compensation of 2,500 euros each.

SOURCES thejournal.ie usatoday.com