Los Angeles:
Church files obtained exclusively by the Associated Press show that before becoming pope, Cardinal Joseph Ratzinger resisted defrocking a San Francisco Bay-area priest who molested children.
A 1985 letter signed by Ratzinger cited concerns about the effect that removing the priest would have on "the good of the universal church."
The correspondence is the strongest challenge yet to the Vatican's insistence that Benedict played no role in blocking the removal of paedophile priests during his years as head of the Catholic Church's doctrinal watchdog office.
The letter, signed by then-Cardinal Joseph Ratzinger, was typed in Latin and is part of years of correspondence between the Diocese of Oakland in California and the Vatican about the proposed defrocking of the Rev. Stephen Kiesle.
The Vatican refused to comment on the contents of the letter on Friday, but a spokesman confirmed it bore Ratzinger's signature.
The diocese recommended removing Kiesle from the priesthood in 1981, the year Ratzinger was appointed to head the Vatican office which shared responsibility for disciplining abusive priests.
The case then languished for four years at the Vatican before Ratzinger finally wrote to Oakland Bishop John Cummins. It was still two more years before Kiesle was removed.
In the November 1985 letter, Ratzinger says the arguments for removing Kiesle are of "grave significance" but added that such actions required very careful review and more time.
He also urged the bishop to provide Kiesle with "as much paternal care as possible" while awaiting the decision.
But the future pope also noted that any decision to defrock Kiesle must take into account the "good of the universal church" and the "detriment that granting the dispensation can provoke within the community of Christ's faithful, particularly considering the young age."
Kiesle was 38 at the time.
Kiesle had been sentenced in 1978 to three years' probation after pleading no contest to misdemeanour charges of lewd conduct for tying up and molesting two young boys in a San Francisco Bay area church rectory.
As his probation ended in 1981, Kiesle asked to leave the priesthood and the diocese submitted papers to Rome to defrock him.
In his earliest letter to Ratzinger, Bishop John Cummins warned that returning Kiesle to ministry would cause more of a scandal than stripping him of his priestly powers.
California church officials wrote to Ratzinger at least three times to check on the status of Kiesle's case.
At one point, a Vatican official wrote to say the file may have been lost and suggested resubmitting materials.
Lawyer Irwin Zalkin, who sued the diocese on behalf of some of Kiesle's victims outlined his explanation for the delay.
"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."
As Kiesle's fate was being considered in Rome, the priest returned to suburban Pinole to volunteer as a youth minister at St. Joseph Church, where he had served as associate pastor from 1972 to 1975.
Kiesle was ultimately stripped of his priestly powers in 1987, though the documents do not indicate when, how or why. They also don't indicate what role - if any - Ratzinger had in the decision.
Kiesle continued to volunteer with children, according to Maurine Behrend, who worked in the Oakland diocese's youth ministry office in the 1980s.
After learning of his history, Behrend complained to church officials. When nothing was done she wrote a letter, which she showed to the AP.
"There's a way of being ignorant isn't your fault and there's a way of being ignorant that is your fault and then there is denial. And I think most bishops and priests know that," she said in an interview.
Behrend said she eventually confronted Cummins, the now retired bishop, at a confirmation and Kiesle was gone a short time later.
Cummins told the AP during an interview at his Oakland home that he "didn't really care for" Kiesle, but he didn't recall writing to Ratzinger concerning the case.
"I wish I did write to Cardinal Ratzinger. I don't think I was that smart," he said.
Kiesle was arrested and charged in 2002 with 13 counts of child molestation from the 1970s.
All but two were thrown out after the US Supreme Court struck down as unconstitutional a California law extending the statute of limitations.
He pleaded no contest in 2004 to a felony for molesting a young girl in his Truckee home in 1995 and was sentenced to six years in state prison.
Kiesle, now 63 and a registered sex offender, lives in a Walnut Creek gated community, according to his address listed on the Megan's Law sex registry.
An AP reporter was turned away when attempting to reach him for comment.
These latest documents follow similar documents released last week, which revealed instances of the Vatican stalling in cases involving two Arizona clergy.
The Vatican has called the accusations "absolutely groundless" and said the facts were being misrepresented.
A 1985 letter signed by Ratzinger cited concerns about the effect that removing the priest would have on "the good of the universal church."
The correspondence is the strongest challenge yet to the Vatican's insistence that Benedict played no role in blocking the removal of paedophile priests during his years as head of the Catholic Church's doctrinal watchdog office.
The letter, signed by then-Cardinal Joseph Ratzinger, was typed in Latin and is part of years of correspondence between the Diocese of Oakland in California and the Vatican about the proposed defrocking of the Rev. Stephen Kiesle.
The Vatican refused to comment on the contents of the letter on Friday, but a spokesman confirmed it bore Ratzinger's signature.
The diocese recommended removing Kiesle from the priesthood in 1981, the year Ratzinger was appointed to head the Vatican office which shared responsibility for disciplining abusive priests.
The case then languished for four years at the Vatican before Ratzinger finally wrote to Oakland Bishop John Cummins. It was still two more years before Kiesle was removed.
In the November 1985 letter, Ratzinger says the arguments for removing Kiesle are of "grave significance" but added that such actions required very careful review and more time.
He also urged the bishop to provide Kiesle with "as much paternal care as possible" while awaiting the decision.
But the future pope also noted that any decision to defrock Kiesle must take into account the "good of the universal church" and the "detriment that granting the dispensation can provoke within the community of Christ's faithful, particularly considering the young age."
Kiesle was 38 at the time.
Kiesle had been sentenced in 1978 to three years' probation after pleading no contest to misdemeanour charges of lewd conduct for tying up and molesting two young boys in a San Francisco Bay area church rectory.
As his probation ended in 1981, Kiesle asked to leave the priesthood and the diocese submitted papers to Rome to defrock him.
In his earliest letter to Ratzinger, Bishop John Cummins warned that returning Kiesle to ministry would cause more of a scandal than stripping him of his priestly powers.
California church officials wrote to Ratzinger at least three times to check on the status of Kiesle's case.
At one point, a Vatican official wrote to say the file may have been lost and suggested resubmitting materials.
Lawyer Irwin Zalkin, who sued the diocese on behalf of some of Kiesle's victims outlined his explanation for the delay.
"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."
As Kiesle's fate was being considered in Rome, the priest returned to suburban Pinole to volunteer as a youth minister at St. Joseph Church, where he had served as associate pastor from 1972 to 1975.
Kiesle was ultimately stripped of his priestly powers in 1987, though the documents do not indicate when, how or why. They also don't indicate what role - if any - Ratzinger had in the decision.
Kiesle continued to volunteer with children, according to Maurine Behrend, who worked in the Oakland diocese's youth ministry office in the 1980s.
After learning of his history, Behrend complained to church officials. When nothing was done she wrote a letter, which she showed to the AP.
"There's a way of being ignorant isn't your fault and there's a way of being ignorant that is your fault and then there is denial. And I think most bishops and priests know that," she said in an interview.
Behrend said she eventually confronted Cummins, the now retired bishop, at a confirmation and Kiesle was gone a short time later.
Cummins told the AP during an interview at his Oakland home that he "didn't really care for" Kiesle, but he didn't recall writing to Ratzinger concerning the case.
"I wish I did write to Cardinal Ratzinger. I don't think I was that smart," he said.
Kiesle was arrested and charged in 2002 with 13 counts of child molestation from the 1970s.
All but two were thrown out after the US Supreme Court struck down as unconstitutional a California law extending the statute of limitations.
He pleaded no contest in 2004 to a felony for molesting a young girl in his Truckee home in 1995 and was sentenced to six years in state prison.
Kiesle, now 63 and a registered sex offender, lives in a Walnut Creek gated community, according to his address listed on the Megan's Law sex registry.
An AP reporter was turned away when attempting to reach him for comment.
These latest documents follow similar documents released last week, which revealed instances of the Vatican stalling in cases involving two Arizona clergy.
The Vatican has called the accusations "absolutely groundless" and said the facts were being misrepresented.
Track Latest News Live on NDTV.com and get news updates from India and around the world
