Sex abuse victims lament lack of full apology from former pope Benedict

Former pope acknowledged errors in his handling of sex abuse cases in letter

Victims have lamented a lost opportunity for healing as former pope Benedict has acknowledged errors in his handling of sexual abuse and asked for forgiveness but his lawyers argued he was not directly to blame.

A letter by Benedict and a three-page legal addendum was issued by the Vatican on Tuesday after a report last month on abuse in the Munich archdiocese from 1945 to 2019 which included the alleged failure by then cardinal Joseph Ratzinger to take action in four cases when he was archbishop between 1977 and 1982.