Vatican City, Mar 12, 2010 / 11:13 am
Archbishop of Freiburg Robert Zollitsch met with Pope Benedict on Friday to speak of the revelations of sexual abuse against minors and measures being taken to investigate and prevent further occurrences. Pope Benedict, he said in a press conference afterward, expressed his "full support" for the steps put in place by the bishops' conference to respond to abuses.
Archbishop Zollitsch, president of the German Bishops' Conference, hosted a press conference at the Teutonic College in the Vatican after the papal audience. There, he told reporters about the content of his meeting with the Holy Father which he had come from directly.
Archbishop Zollitsch said that he had informed the Pope further about the abuses that had come to light in recent weeks. The Pope, he added, listened to his account with "great dismay, attentive interest and deep emotion." The fundamental theme of the meeting was the Feb. 25 statement devised in the Spring Plenary Assembly of the German Bishops' Conference, where the bishops laid out a plan for addressing the issue.
The bishops established a four point plan to reveal the truth, appraise current guidelines for dealing with abuses, intensify prevention measures and appoint individuals to positions of oversight and responsibility.