CNA Deutsch, CNA's German-language news partner, reported that Benedict also said: "At first I did not realize that in the attempt to shape the things of daily life integrally from faith, terrible distortions of faith were also possible."
"I deeply regret that this gave the impression that all activities of the community had been approved by the archbishop."
The Catholic Integrated Community, founded in 1948, was intended to be, according to its own description, "a place for an enlightened and unabridged Christianity."
The community achieved ecclesiastic recognition in 1978 by the archbishops of Paderborn and Munich -- Johannes Degenhardt and Joseph Ratzinger respectively -- and in 1986 it was established as a public association of the Christian faithful under Church law.
As CNA Deutsch previously reported, the archdiocese of Munich and Freising published an interim report in November 2019 in which ex-members of the group described interventions in their private life. These included the choice of a place of residence and the number of children in a family, as well as the exertion of psychological pressure on relatives.
A spokesperson for Munich and Freising archdiocese informed the group that the decision to investigate the community in greater depth was taken after IG had obtained the archbishop's confirmation of a chairperson for its executive committee. This step, which is required of public church associations and is scheduled every six years, took place in November 2010.