Pope Under Fire For German Church Sex Scandal

German Church Scandal Widens By VANESSA FUHRMANS WSJ

REGENSBURG, Germany— Four priests and two nuns who once worked in the Regensburg diocese of Pope Benedict XVI's native Bavaria are being investigated on allegations of sexual abuse from decades ago, the diocese said, the latest reports in a growing scandal surrounding the Catholic Church in Germany.

The allegations, some of which have already been cited by the diocese and in media reports over the past two weeks, are among hundreds of claims of child sexual abuse that have emerged recently in Catholic institutions in Germany, the Netherlands and elsewhere in Europe.

The allegations from Regensburg have held particular attention because most stem from boarding schools tied to its renowned 1,000-year-old Domspatzen choir, which the pope's brother, Georg Ratzinger, directed for nearly 30 years. Msgr. Ratzinger, 86 years old, hasn't been implicated in any allegations and has said he was never aware of such reports during his tenure from 1964 to 1993. Pope Benedict XVI, who over the weekend apologized to victims of an abuse scandal within Ireland's Catholic Church, has come under criticism for not specifically addressing the wave of allegations in his native Germany, where he was archbishop of Munich from 1977 to 1982 before heading to the Vatican.

See also: Church abuse scandal reaches pope's brother & The German archdiocese led by the future Pope Benedict XVI ignored repeated warnings in the early 1980s