Abuse story of former Vatican official raises questions about Benedict's resignation
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Summary
In 2002, the Catholic Church was rocked by the widespread public revelation of sexual abuse perpetrated by Catholic clergy. While sexual abuse in all professions was nothing new, among clergy it brought a particular repugnance. While the 2002 clergy abuse revelations were still very much in the news, there was another homosexual abuse scandal playing out quietly inside the Vatican in the waning years of Pope John Paul II s life. And while Pope Benedict, along with the rest of the Church, was expressing public grief, meeting with abused victims, and promising reforms, those in high-ranking Vatican positions were using the same old playbook in mishandling credible allegations of sex abuse within the Vatican s own walls.
Transcript
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At the time of Pope Benedict's resignation in 2013, newspaper reports from all around the world speculated
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that the papal abdication was tied to a secret, quote, 300-page Vatican dossier
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that allegedly found an underground network of high-ranking gay clergy
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complete with sex parties and shady dealings with the Vatican Bank, end quote.
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We now have learned of reports of homosexual sexual abuse of several priests
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by a high-ranking Vatican monsignor alleged to have taken place inside the Vatican
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and they were first reported by one of the victims in 2006,
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but they went without even an official investigation until now.
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The monsignor in question was transferred from the Vatican to a plum post in Vienna, Austria,
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where he's reported to have sexually offended again, and from there was transferred again,
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this time to a German diocese where he was given another top position
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One of the big questions in all of this is what Pope Benedict knew of the situation, if anything,
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and what effect it may have had on his decision to resign the papacy.
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We're going to be looking into that and a lot more on this episode of the John Henry Weston Show.
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Before we begin, let me encourage you please to share these videos with family and friends
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Let's begin as we always do with the sign of the cross.
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In the name of the Father, and of the Son, and of the Holy Spirit. Amen.
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In 2002, the Catholic Church was rocked by the widespread public revelation of sexual abuse
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While sexual abuse in all professions was nothing new,
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among clergy it brought a particular repugnance.
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But more than that, the new revelations highlighted the role of bishops themselves in the crisis
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as it made it clear that they had allowed known sexually abusive priests to go without punishment
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and be transferred to other parishes or dioceses where they would sometimes even abuse again.
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A case which had its first diocesan hearing last Monday, September 7th,
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concerns a high-ranking Vatican Monsignor accused of coercing multiple priests under him
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The alleged abuse was first reported to Vatican officials in 2006,
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with no official investigation taking place until after a German newspaper, DeBilt,
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began reporting on various aspects of the case last year,
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resulting in a police investigation and the laying of criminal charges.
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While the 2002 clergy abuse revelations were still very much in the news,
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there was another homosexual abuse scandal playing out quietly inside the Vatican
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in the waning years of Pope John Paul II's life.
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And later, while Pope Benedict, along with the rest of the Church,
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was expressing public grief, meeting with abused victims, and promising reforms,
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those in high Vatican positions, were using the same old playbook
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in mishandling credible allegations of sexual abuse within the Vatican's own walls.
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In addition to the diocesan investigation in Eichstadt,
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there is a criminal case now before the courts in Germany,
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in which two priests testify to gruesome sexual abuse at the hands of a then-senior Vatican official
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in the Secretariat of State, named Monsignor Christophe Kuhn.
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A Monsignor Florian Kolfhaus and a second man, a former priest,
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both allege that Kuhn violently compelled them into sexual masochistic acts.
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Kolfhaus first lodged a complaint against Kuhn at the Vatican in 2006.
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He testifies that his abuse took place inside the offices of the Secretariat of State,
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as well as inside the Casa Santa Marta, a residence for Vatican prelates,
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But it appears no formal investigation was launched until 2019,
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in spite of the fact that a report by Archbishop Carlo Maria Vigano,
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who at the time was delegate for the pontifical representations,
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was presented to the superiors of the Secretariat of State on July 3rd, 2006.
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The other priest who testifies in the case has since become laicized,
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and now is actually a practicing homosexual and LGBT activist.
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He has given his testimony for the Kolfhaus complaint that is currently underway in Germany.
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The court files include a WhatsApp message from Kuhn to this former priest from April 2017,
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in which Monsignor Kuhn offers some future financial support
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should the laicized priest help him to clear his name with regard to the allegations against him.
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Kuhn was the head of the German section of the Secretariat of State in the Vatican from 2001 till 2008.
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This position put him in charge of vetting priests and bishops from Germany for elevations,
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and as such, he was privy to all the personnel records of these prelates.
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Being in such a high position and involved in the German church,
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Kuhn was often in close contact with Pope Benedict XVI,
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both after Pope Benedict's election in 2005 and prior to that in his role as the head of the Congregation for the Doctrine of Faith.
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and was often photographed side by side with him at official receptions,
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such as that with German President Horst Köhler in 2005 during his visit to Cologne,
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As Kolfhaus explains in a denunciation to the Vatican,
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given the difficult work that he was about to undertake,
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radically changing the political line of the bishops' conference in Germany
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on the participation of the German bishops in the national system regarding abortion legislation.
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contrary to various directives given by the Holy See,
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which was required in order to have a legal abortion.
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This conflict greatly polarized the Catholic Church in Germany, end quote.
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Kolfhaus says that he suffered sexual abuse at the hands of Kuhn
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and has been reporting the abuse to different superiors in the Vatican and elsewhere since 2006.
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Kolfhaus told LifeSite that he did not begin the legal process or go to the press with the abuse he suffered.
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Only after details of the abuse were reported by the German newspaper Debuilt in 2019,
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When journalists or civil authorities come to me, I have to answer truthfully.
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To lie here would be nothing other than covering up for the perpetrator.
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Those were Monsignor Kolfhaus' words to LifeSite's Dr. Micah Hickson.
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In 2008, Kuhn was moved to Vienna to work in the Nunciature, a Vatican embassy.
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And here is where the question of Pope Benedict's knowledge of the case comes into question.
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Two sources close to Pope Benedict spoke anonymously to LifeSite's Dr. Micah Hickson about it,
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suggesting that Kuhn was moved to Vienna because his scandalous sexual behavior became too well known.
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One of them said that the Pope himself moved Kuhn, knowing of the problems,
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and even asked Cardinal Joachim Meissner, Archbishop of Cologne, to take Kuhn into his diocese.
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When it became known that he, referencing Kuhn, had harassed various young men, among them also Kolfhaus,
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he was removed by Benedict XVI from the Vatican and sent to Vienna, end quote.
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This source insisted, because, and by the way, he was defending Pope Benedict,
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that Benedict did personally intervene in the case and that he punished Kuhn two times
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by sending him into less important positions, first to Vienna in 2008, then to Eichstätt in 2012,
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this time removing him also from the diplomatic service of the Vatican.
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Pope Benedict, remember, was elected Pope in 2005 and announced his early resignation in 2013.
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Another source from Benedict Circle, however, did tell LifeSite that Benedict did not know of the matter,
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and it was handled either by the then Secretary of State himself, who is now, by the way, Cardinal Tarsicio Bertone,
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or the then substitute, who is now Cardinal Fernando Filoni.
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In the midst of this scandal in April 2011, Kuhn was actually awarded a special designation as a, quote,
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It's a papal designation that often comes after a number of years of service in the diplomatic corps of the Vatican.
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At the end of 2012, Kuhn was removed from the diplomatic service of the Vatican
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and was moved to his home diocese of Eichstätt in Germany,
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where he was personally appointed Canon of the Cathedral by Bishop Gregor Hanke.
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That position, however, gained Kuhn a much larger salary and a very notable position.
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It took till April of 2019, when the accusations against Kuhn were brought to the public by the German newspaper DeBilt
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for Bishop Hanke of the Diocese of Eichstätt to suspend Kuhn from his duties.
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LifeSite reached out to Monsignor Kuhn with questions,
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and in response, Kuhn's lawyer threatened a lawsuit should LifeSite report on the case.
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The response from the lawyer denied all charges,
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and not only forbade reporting on the case, but also forbade further research into it.
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Kuhn publicly addressed the accusations himself for the first time in July 2020,
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after Italian Vaticanist Marco Tazzati published a translation of portions
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of a July 16, 2020, DeBilt article on the case on his blog.
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Now, Kuhn vehemently denied all charges in his response to Tazzati's article.
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Moreover, Kuhn claims that Kolfhaus' lawyer, Alexander Stevens,
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a well-known LGBT activist and supporter of the relative lifestyle and debauchery, end quote.
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Stevens, the alleged victim's lawyer, told LifeSite's Dr. Micah Hickson
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the prelate obviously doesn't hesitate to even discredit the victim's lawyer, end quote.
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When LifeSite published our original report on this case on September 5th,
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Monsignor Kuhn's lawyers threatened a lawsuit if we did not take down our story by 4pm that same day.
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In addition to the testimonies of the two priests,
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there are two explosive pieces of evidence in this case,
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One of them is the testimony of Archbishop Vigano,
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and the other a testimony from a former employee of the Diocese of Eichstatt.
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On January 22nd, 2020, Archbishop Carlo Maria Vigano provided testimony
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he was the delegate for the pontifical representations at the Secretary of State,
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and that's a position which is responsible for personnel of the Roman Curia,
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and of course that position is subordinate to the substitute of the Secretary of State.
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So in Vigano's testimony, which LifeSite confirmed with the Archbishop himself,
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aware of precise information regarding the harassment and all kinds of abuses
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committed by Monsignor Christoph Kuhn against Monsignor Florian Kulphhaus.
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Archbishop Vigano also notes that Kulphhaus informed various individuals of the abuse,
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including a superior at the Secretariat of State
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and also a bishop in charge of preparation of candidates for diplomatic service in the Vatican.
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Archbishop Vigano also reports that now Cardinal Pietro Parolin was informed as well.
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no official investigation was undertaken by July 2009,
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and that's when Vigano ceased his duty as delegate for the pontifical representations.
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No investigation to examine Kulphhaus' reports of the abuse he suffered.
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Vigano told LifeSite that the evidence which would have called for an official investigation
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included the report sent to the Secretariat of State by Archbishop Justo Muller,
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who was that president of the Pontifical Academy we mentioned earlier.
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Also, there was a report by a psychologist who returned a negative judgment on Kuhn dated June 14, 2006,
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and Vigano's own note for the substitute on July 3, 2006.
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Vigano's testimony also calls into question the 2001 decision to have Kuhn at the Vatican in the first place.
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He recounts that sexually scandalous behavior by Kuhn was known to the Vatican as early as 1997,
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when Kuhn was a priest in the Nunciature in Zimbabwe.
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Monsignor Christophe Kuhn began his service on July 1, 1997, in the Apostolic Nunciature in Zimbabwe.
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During this, his first assignment, the Nuncio, His Excellency Monsignor Peter Prabhu,
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had to report some of the behavior of his collaborator that could have indicated his possible homosexual tendency.
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The Nuncio reported in February 1998 that on returning from a pastoral visit of several days,
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he was told that Father Kuhn was very sick and that he, that is Kuhn, wanted to see him.
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That's Prabhu the bishop immediately, the Nuncio.
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The Nuncio went to his room and knocked on the door,
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and Kuhn told him to come in and revealed himself lying in his bed wearing only very skimpy panties.
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And the Nuncio told him to get dressed and went away.
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Afterward, Kuhn went from his bedroom to his office dressed in the same way,
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and then went down to the common area of the Nunciature in that same undressed state.
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Archbishop Vigano's testimony continued, and I quote,
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On another occasion during an encounter that lasted two hours in an Italian club,
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Father Kuhn took a young blonde boy about nine or ten years old
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and made him sit on top of him with his arms around the young boy, end quote.
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And there's a second testimony in the court files
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that has just been actually partly corroborated by the bishop of Monsignor Kuhn, Bishop Hanke.
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The testimony is from a man who was employed in a high-ranking position by the Diocese of Eichstätt at the time,
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and he sums up what he was told by higher-ups in the diocese concerning Kuhn in 2014.
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because of his somewhat difficult past, end quote.
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both the finance director of the diocese and the vicar general informed him
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during his station in Africa that were related to, quote,
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it went so wild he was forbidden entrance into a hotel, end quote.
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According to this source, the vicar general of the diocese told him
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that the official reason for Kuhn's dismissal from Vienna was, quote,
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additional non-consensual sexual contacts during his diplomatic stations, end quote.
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that's this man who gives testimony who was an employee of the diocese,
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and the bishop noted that Kuhn should be thankful to be in the diocese at all
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and should be grateful to Bishop Hanke for that.
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The German newspaper, which first broke the story,
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reported on September 7th, that's only a little over a week ago,
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that Bishop Hanke partly confirmed the testimony of the diocese and employee
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by admitting that the vicar general did know of the serious allegations against Kuhn
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and did indeed caution the diocese and employee regarding Kuhn.
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the vicar general cautioned an employee regarding Kuhn for his sexually deviant past,
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but at the same time, they didn't see fit to warn the unsuspecting faithful Catholics
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a cleric who persists with scandal in another external sin
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against the sixth commandment of the Decalogue,
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and by the way, that's the commandment against adultery and sexual sin,
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And if he persists in the delict after a warning,
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Canon law experts have told LifeSite that much of the problem
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has been the ignorance of and the refusal to apply canon law,
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persevering in manifest grave sin are not to be admitted to Holy Communion,
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and yet pro-abortion politicians like Nancy Pelosi and Joe Biden are given Holy Communion.
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Priests who abuse the faith of children by grave distortion,
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and warn the faithful of the gravity of supporting pro-abortion politicians,
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are silenced and threatened with canonical penalty.
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that we the faithful laity need to pay attention to.
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It is the church law which informs the faithful of their right
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and the rest of the faithful about our concerns to defend the faith.
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according to the knowledge, competence, and prestige which they possess,
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they have the right and even at times the duty to manifest to the sacred pastors
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their opinion on matters which pertain to the good of the church.
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And to make their opinion known to the rest of the Christian faithful
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without prejudice to the integrity of faith and morals
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and attentive to common advantage and the dignity of persons.
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We cannot stand for the dereliction of duty of our bishops,
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that failure to admonish and correct abuse among the clergy.
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Many bishops have failed to take action to correct and admonish clergy sexual abuse,
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liturgical abuse, and abuse by heretical teaching.
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These abuses threaten our children's bodies, minds, and souls,
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and we the faithful cannot and must not remain silent.
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For our children, for our church, and for our fidelity to Christ,
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and indeed actually also for the good of the abusing clergy and the negligent bishops,
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but also with public campaigns and actions to demand shepherds in the mold of Christ
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I'd like to invite you to subscribe to the John Henry Weston Show YouTube channel
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There you will find all the past episodes and much more.
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Thanks again for watching, and may God bless you.