The John-Henry Westen Show - Abuse story of former Vatican official raises questions about Benedict's resignation

00:00:00.000 At the time of Pope Benedict's resignation in 2013, newspaper reports from all around the world speculated

00:00:06.620 that the papal abdication was tied to a secret, quote, 300-page Vatican dossier

00:00:12.660 that allegedly found an underground network of high-ranking gay clergy

00:00:17.400 complete with sex parties and shady dealings with the Vatican Bank, end quote. 0.98

00:00:23.740 We now have learned of reports of homosexual sexual abuse of several priests 0.95

00:00:28.980 by a high-ranking Vatican monsignor alleged to have taken place inside the Vatican

00:00:34.640 and they were first reported by one of the victims in 2006,

00:00:39.120 but they went without even an official investigation until now.

00:00:43.600 The monsignor in question was transferred from the Vatican to a plum post in Vienna, Austria,

00:00:48.500 where he's reported to have sexually offended again, and from there was transferred again,

00:00:53.680 this time to a German diocese where he was given another top position

00:00:57.400 with a hefty salary increase.

00:00:59.760 One of the big questions in all of this is what Pope Benedict knew of the situation, if anything,

00:01:06.260 and what effect it may have had on his decision to resign the papacy.

00:01:10.280 We're going to be looking into that and a lot more on this episode of the John Henry Weston Show.

00:01:14.880 Stay tuned.

00:01:27.400 Before we begin, let me encourage you please to share these videos with family and friends

00:01:39.200 and encourage them to sign up to this mailing list to alert them of all the new episodes as they are released.

00:01:45.080 You'll find the link for that below this video.

00:01:47.740 Also remember to like and comment on this video as that too helps to spread the word.

00:01:52.460 Let's begin as we always do with the sign of the cross.

00:01:57.040 In the name of the Father, and of the Son, and of the Holy Spirit. Amen.

00:02:02.680 In 2002, the Catholic Church was rocked by the widespread public revelation of sexual abuse

00:02:09.160 perpetrated by Catholic clergy. 0.75

00:02:11.700 While sexual abuse in all professions was nothing new, 0.98

00:02:16.040 among clergy it brought a particular repugnance.

00:02:19.040 But more than that, the new revelations highlighted the role of bishops themselves in the crisis

00:02:25.140 as it made it clear that they had allowed known sexually abusive priests to go without punishment

00:02:30.840 and be transferred to other parishes or dioceses where they would sometimes even abuse again.

00:02:38.240 A case which had its first diocesan hearing last Monday, September 7th,

00:02:43.940 concerns a high-ranking Vatican Monsignor accused of coercing multiple priests under him

00:02:50.220 into masochistic sexual acts.

00:02:54.040 The alleged abuse was first reported to Vatican officials in 2006,

00:02:59.140 with no official investigation taking place until after a German newspaper, DeBilt,

00:03:05.460 began reporting on various aspects of the case last year,

00:03:09.200 resulting in a police investigation and the laying of criminal charges.

00:03:13.940 While the 2002 clergy abuse revelations were still very much in the news,

00:03:20.980 there was another homosexual abuse scandal playing out quietly inside the Vatican

00:03:26.100 in the waning years of Pope John Paul II's life.

00:03:29.680 And later, while Pope Benedict, along with the rest of the Church,

00:03:33.080 was expressing public grief, meeting with abused victims, and promising reforms,

00:03:37.440 those in high Vatican positions, were using the same old playbook

00:03:42.320 in mishandling credible allegations of sexual abuse within the Vatican's own walls.

00:03:48.740 In addition to the diocesan investigation in Eichstadt,

00:03:52.840 there is a criminal case now before the courts in Germany,

00:03:57.080 in which two priests testify to gruesome sexual abuse at the hands of a then-senior Vatican official

00:04:05.400 in the Secretariat of State, named Monsignor Christophe Kuhn.

00:04:12.140 A Monsignor Florian Kolfhaus and a second man, a former priest,

00:04:17.120 both allege that Kuhn violently compelled them into sexual masochistic acts.

00:04:23.660 Kolfhaus first lodged a complaint against Kuhn at the Vatican in 2006.

00:04:30.820 He testifies that his abuse took place inside the offices of the Secretariat of State,

00:04:36.720 as well as inside the Casa Santa Marta, a residence for Vatican prelates,

00:04:42.180 which is now the residence of Pope Francis.

00:04:45.540 But it appears no formal investigation was launched until 2019,

00:04:51.120 in spite of the fact that a report by Archbishop Carlo Maria Vigano,

00:04:56.960 who at the time was delegate for the pontifical representations,

00:05:00.960 was presented to the superiors of the Secretariat of State on July 3rd, 2006.

00:05:08.220 This is more than 12 years of waiting.

00:05:10.780 The other priest who testifies in the case has since become laicized,

00:05:15.060 and now is actually a practicing homosexual and LGBT activist.

00:05:20.020 He has given his testimony for the Kolfhaus complaint that is currently underway in Germany.

00:05:25.240 The court files include a WhatsApp message from Kuhn to this former priest from April 2017,

00:05:34.040 in which Monsignor Kuhn offers some future financial support

00:05:38.360 should the laicized priest help him to clear his name with regard to the allegations against him.

00:05:43.240 Kuhn was the head of the German section of the Secretariat of State in the Vatican from 2001 till 2008.

00:05:53.000 This position put him in charge of vetting priests and bishops from Germany for elevations,

00:05:58.960 and as such, he was privy to all the personnel records of these prelates.

00:06:04.060 Being in such a high position and involved in the German church,

00:06:07.360 Kuhn was often in close contact with Pope Benedict XVI,

00:06:11.500 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.

00:06:19.660 As head of the German section until 2008,

00:06:22.860 Kuhn organized Benedict's trips to Germany,

00:06:26.280 traveled with him on the Papal Plain,

00:06:28.380 and was often photographed side by side with him at official receptions,

00:06:32.300 such as that with German President Horst Köhler in 2005 during his visit to Cologne,

00:06:40.060 Chancellor Gerhard Schröder,

00:06:42.000 as well as future Chancellor Angela Merkel.

00:06:46.200 Kuhn's reputation was conservative.

00:06:48.780 As Kolfhaus explains in a denunciation to the Vatican,

00:06:52.000 as well as to the Diocese of Eichstätt,

00:06:55.040 in which he outlines the abuse.

00:06:57.680 He says, and I quote,

00:06:58.860 Monsignor Kuhn took interest in me personally,

00:07:01.920 given the difficult work that he was about to undertake,

00:07:04.380 namely,

00:07:05.300 radically changing the political line of the bishops' conference in Germany

00:07:08.760 on the participation of the German bishops in the national system regarding abortion legislation.

00:07:14.980 The German diocese,

00:07:16.520 contrary to various directives given by the Holy See,

00:07:20.320 participated in the state-run system,

00:07:22.320 giving, on request, a certificate to women,

00:07:25.180 which was required in order to have a legal abortion. 1.00

00:07:28.300 This conflict greatly polarized the Catholic Church in Germany, end quote.

00:07:34.120 Kolfhaus says that he suffered sexual abuse at the hands of Kuhn

00:07:37.600 from the end of 2003 until 2004,

00:07:42.300 and has been reporting the abuse to different superiors in the Vatican and elsewhere since 2006.

00:07:48.740 Through his lawyer, Dr. Alexander Stevens,

00:07:52.660 Kolfhaus told LifeSite that he did not begin the legal process or go to the press with the abuse he suffered.

00:08:00.400 Only after details of the abuse were reported by the German newspaper Debuilt in 2019,

00:08:07.120 and police questioned Kolfhaus, did he act.

00:08:10.240 He told LifeSite journalist Dr. Micah Hickson,

00:08:14.780 and I quote,

00:08:15.940 When journalists or civil authorities come to me, I have to answer truthfully.

00:08:20.120 To lie here would be nothing other than covering up for the perpetrator.

00:08:25.120 Those were Monsignor Kolfhaus' words to LifeSite's Dr. Micah Hickson.

00:08:30.600 In 2008, Kuhn was moved to Vienna to work in the Nunciature, a Vatican embassy.

00:08:38.780 And here is where the question of Pope Benedict's knowledge of the case comes into question.

00:08:43.960 Two sources close to Pope Benedict spoke anonymously to LifeSite's Dr. Micah Hickson about it,

00:08:50.180 suggesting that Kuhn was moved to Vienna because his scandalous sexual behavior became too well known.

00:08:55.960 One of them said that the Pope himself moved Kuhn, knowing of the problems,

00:09:02.460 and even asked Cardinal Joachim Meissner, Archbishop of Cologne, to take Kuhn into his diocese.

00:09:08.940 But Meissner refused.

00:09:10.940 Another source stated, and I quote,

00:09:13.060 When it became known that he, referencing Kuhn, had harassed various young men, among them also Kolfhaus,

00:09:20.500 he was removed by Benedict XVI from the Vatican and sent to Vienna, end quote.

00:09:26.640 This source insisted, because, and by the way, he was defending Pope Benedict,

00:09:31.400 that Benedict did personally intervene in the case and that he punished Kuhn two times

00:09:37.280 by sending him into less important positions, first to Vienna in 2008, then to Eichstätt in 2012,

00:09:44.180 this time removing him also from the diplomatic service of the Vatican.

00:09:47.880 Pope Benedict, remember, was elected Pope in 2005 and announced his early resignation in 2013.

00:09:57.980 Another source from Benedict Circle, however, did tell LifeSite that Benedict did not know of the matter,

00:10:04.060 and it was handled either by the then Secretary of State himself, who is now, by the way, Cardinal Tarsicio Bertone,

00:10:10.460 or the then substitute, who is now Cardinal Fernando Filoni.

00:10:15.940 In the midst of this scandal in April 2011, Kuhn was actually awarded a special designation as a, quote,

00:10:23.720 prelate of honor of His Holiness.

00:10:26.400 It's a papal designation that often comes after a number of years of service in the diplomatic corps of the Vatican.

00:10:32.700 At the end of 2012, Kuhn was removed from the diplomatic service of the Vatican

00:10:37.920 and was moved to his home diocese of Eichstätt in Germany,

00:10:42.060 where he was personally appointed Canon of the Cathedral by Bishop Gregor Hanke.

00:10:47.400 That position, however, gained Kuhn a much larger salary and a very notable position.

00:10:54.820 It took till April of 2019, when the accusations against Kuhn were brought to the public by the German newspaper DeBilt

00:11:02.220 for Bishop Hanke of the Diocese of Eichstätt to suspend Kuhn from his duties.

00:11:08.720 LifeSite reached out to Monsignor Kuhn with questions,

00:11:11.720 and in response, Kuhn's lawyer threatened a lawsuit should LifeSite report on the case.

00:11:16.780 The response from the lawyer denied all charges,

00:11:20.300 and not only forbade reporting on the case, but also forbade further research into it.

00:11:27.340 Kuhn publicly addressed the accusations himself for the first time in July 2020,

00:11:33.940 after Italian Vaticanist Marco Tazzati published a translation of portions

00:11:38.840 of a July 16, 2020, DeBilt article on the case on his blog.

00:11:45.380 Now, Kuhn vehemently denied all charges in his response to Tazzati's article.

00:11:51.440 Moreover, Kuhn claims that Kolfhaus' lawyer, Alexander Stevens,

00:11:56.860 is, quote,

00:11:57.760 a well-known LGBT activist and supporter of the relative lifestyle and debauchery, end quote. 1.00

00:12:05.660 Stevens, the alleged victim's lawyer, told LifeSite's Dr. Micah Hickson

00:12:10.360 that Kuhn's accusation against him is false.

00:12:13.740 He said, and I quote,

00:12:14.620 the prelate obviously doesn't hesitate to even discredit the victim's lawyer, end quote.

00:12:19.580 He wrote that in an email to LifeSite News,

00:12:22.020 and he also added, quote,

00:12:23.980 When LifeSite published our original report on this case on September 5th,

00:12:38.600 Monsignor Kuhn's lawyers threatened a lawsuit if we did not take down our story by 4pm that same day.

00:12:45.400 We didn't take the story down.

00:12:47.040 In addition to the testimonies of the two priests,

00:12:50.840 there are two explosive pieces of evidence in this case,

00:12:54.840 which point to Kuhn's guilt.

00:12:57.100 One of them is the testimony of Archbishop Vigano,

00:13:00.320 and the other a testimony from a former employee of the Diocese of Eichstatt.

00:13:05.580 On January 22nd, 2020, Archbishop Carlo Maria Vigano provided testimony

00:13:10.660 for the church investigation into the case

00:13:13.000 because from May 1998 till July 2009,

00:13:18.820 he was the delegate for the pontifical representations at the Secretary of State,

00:13:25.380 and that's a position which is responsible for personnel of the Roman Curia,

00:13:30.160 and of course that position is subordinate to the substitute of the Secretary of State.

00:13:34.380 So in Vigano's testimony, which LifeSite confirmed with the Archbishop himself,

00:13:40.260 he states that he is, quote,

00:13:43.360 aware of precise information regarding the harassment and all kinds of abuses

00:13:48.100 committed by Monsignor Christoph Kuhn against Monsignor Florian Kulphhaus.

00:13:53.800 Archbishop Vigano also notes that Kulphhaus informed various individuals of the abuse,

00:13:59.600 including a superior at the Secretariat of State

00:14:02.240 and also a bishop in charge of preparation of candidates for diplomatic service in the Vatican.

00:14:08.520 Archbishop Vigano also reports that now Cardinal Pietro Parolin was informed as well.

00:14:15.880 According to Vigano's knowledge,

00:14:17.560 no official investigation was undertaken by July 2009,

00:14:21.120 and that's when Vigano ceased his duty as delegate for the pontifical representations.

00:14:25.440 So no examination of the facts, he said.

00:14:29.860 No investigation to examine Kulphhaus' reports of the abuse he suffered.

00:14:34.560 Vigano told LifeSite that the evidence which would have called for an official investigation

00:14:40.240 included the report sent to the Secretariat of State by Archbishop Justo Muller,

00:14:45.720 who was that president of the Pontifical Academy we mentioned earlier.

00:14:49.140 Also, there was a report by a psychologist who returned a negative judgment on Kuhn dated June 14, 2006,

00:14:58.800 and Vigano's own note for the substitute on July 3, 2006.

00:15:06.940 Vigano's testimony also calls into question the 2001 decision to have Kuhn at the Vatican in the first place.

00:15:15.260 He recounts that sexually scandalous behavior by Kuhn was known to the Vatican as early as 1997,

00:15:24.200 when Kuhn was a priest in the Nunciature in Zimbabwe.

00:15:29.300 Vigano relates in his testimony, and I quote,

00:15:31.820 Monsignor Christophe Kuhn began his service on July 1, 1997, in the Apostolic Nunciature in Zimbabwe.

00:15:40.020 During this, his first assignment, the Nuncio, His Excellency Monsignor Peter Prabhu,

00:15:46.140 had to report some of the behavior of his collaborator that could have indicated his possible homosexual tendency.

00:15:54.220 The Nuncio reported in February 1998 that on returning from a pastoral visit of several days,

00:16:00.580 he was told that Father Kuhn was very sick and that he, that is Kuhn, wanted to see him.

00:16:07.300 That's Prabhu the bishop immediately, the Nuncio.

00:16:11.780 The Nuncio went to his room and knocked on the door,

00:16:14.980 and Kuhn told him to come in and revealed himself lying in his bed wearing only very skimpy panties.

00:16:22.060 And the Nuncio told him to get dressed and went away.

00:16:25.920 Afterward, Kuhn went from his bedroom to his office dressed in the same way,

00:16:30.560 despite the admonition he had received,

00:16:32.680 and then went down to the common area of the Nunciature in that same undressed state.

00:16:40.420 Archbishop Vigano's testimony continued, and I quote,

00:16:43.700 On another occasion during an encounter that lasted two hours in an Italian club,

00:16:49.500 with the lights out as slides were projected,

00:16:53.000 Father Kuhn took a young blonde boy about nine or ten years old

00:16:57.240 and made him sit on top of him with his arms around the young boy, end quote.

00:17:03.080 And there's a second testimony in the court files

00:17:06.120 that has just been actually partly corroborated by the bishop of Monsignor Kuhn, Bishop Hanke.

00:17:12.400 The testimony is from a man who was employed in a high-ranking position by the Diocese of Eichstätt at the time,

00:17:20.120 and he sums up what he was told by higher-ups in the diocese concerning Kuhn in 2014.

00:17:27.220 He was actually warned to be, quote-unquote,

00:17:30.260 cautious around Kuhn, quote,

00:17:32.540 because of his somewhat difficult past, end quote.

00:17:35.040 And when he asked for further information,

00:17:37.560 both the finance director of the diocese and the vicar general informed him

00:17:41.460 that Kuhn was known to have had some, quote,

00:17:44.640 unresolved encounters, end quote,

00:17:47.060 during his station in Africa that were related to, quote,

00:17:50.800 the homosexuality of the prelate Kuhn.

00:17:53.860 During his time in Vienna, they added, quote,

00:17:57.700 it went so wild he was forbidden entrance into a hotel, end quote.

00:18:02.080 According to this source, the vicar general of the diocese told him

00:18:08.500 that the official reason for Kuhn's dismissal from Vienna was, quote,

00:18:12.880 the story with the hotel, as well as, quote,

00:18:16.140 additional non-consensual sexual contacts during his diplomatic stations, end quote.

00:18:22.100 The testimony also says that he spoke,

00:18:25.320 that's this man who gives testimony who was an employee of the diocese,

00:18:28.760 he spoke with Bishop Hanke about the matter,

00:18:32.400 and the bishop noted that Kuhn should be thankful to be in the diocese at all

00:18:36.960 and should be grateful to Bishop Hanke for that.

00:18:40.100 The German newspaper, which first broke the story,

00:18:43.880 reported on September 7th, that's only a little over a week ago,

00:18:48.460 that Bishop Hanke partly confirmed the testimony of the diocese and employee

00:18:52.800 by admitting that the vicar general did know of the serious allegations against Kuhn

00:18:58.420 and did indeed caution the diocese and employee regarding Kuhn.

00:19:04.140 So here's something strange.

00:19:06.160 Here's a bishop acknowledging that in 2014,

00:19:10.500 the vicar general cautioned an employee regarding Kuhn for his sexually deviant past,

00:19:16.720 but at the same time, they didn't see fit to warn the unsuspecting faithful Catholics

00:19:22.660 whom they put in Kuhn's path.

00:19:25.380 This is unbelievable.

00:19:28.900 Canon law at number 1395 insists that,

00:19:32.100 a cleric who persists with scandal in another external sin

00:19:37.400 against the sixth commandment of the Decalogue,

00:19:40.200 and by the way, that's the commandment against adultery and sexual sin,

00:19:43.580 is to be punished by a suspension.

00:19:46.520 And if he persists in the delict after a warning,

00:19:49.820 other penalties can gradually be added,

00:19:53.000 including dismissal from the clerical state.

00:19:57.700 Canon law experts have told LifeSite that much of the problem

00:20:01.440 leading to the church's sexual abuse scandals

00:20:03.820 has been the ignorance of and the refusal to apply canon law,

00:20:09.660 and that is church law.

00:20:10.800 This reminds me of other abuses in the church,

00:20:14.480 where bishops flagrantly ignore canon law,

00:20:18.820 and thus they harm the faith and the faithful.

00:20:22.040 For instance, canon 915 says that those,

00:20:25.060 persevering in manifest grave sin are not to be admitted to Holy Communion,

00:20:29.940 and yet pro-abortion politicians like Nancy Pelosi and Joe Biden are given Holy Communion.

00:20:34.920 Priests who abuse the faith of children by grave distortion,

00:20:40.460 such as Father James Martin,

00:20:42.140 are promoted and celebrated in the church,

00:20:45.040 while those who defend the faith

00:20:46.900 and warn the faithful of the gravity of supporting pro-abortion politicians,

00:20:51.340 such as Father James Altman,

00:20:53.360 are silenced and threatened with canonical penalty.

00:20:58.340 There's actually another canon law

00:21:00.520 that we the faithful laity need to pay attention to.

00:21:03.960 It's canon 2.12.

00:21:06.520 It is the church law which informs the faithful of their right

00:21:09.880 and their duty to tell our shepherds

00:21:13.260 and the rest of the faithful about our concerns to defend the faith.

00:21:18.960 It says, and I quote,

00:21:20.380 according to the knowledge, competence, and prestige which they possess,

00:21:24.200 they have the right and even at times the duty to manifest to the sacred pastors

00:21:29.180 their opinion on matters which pertain to the good of the church.

00:21:33.500 And to make their opinion known to the rest of the Christian faithful

00:21:38.380 without prejudice to the integrity of faith and morals

00:21:42.080 and with reverence toward their pastors

00:21:44.960 and attentive to common advantage and the dignity of persons.

00:21:49.420 We cannot stand for the dereliction of duty of our bishops,

00:21:55.800 that failure to admonish and correct abuse among the clergy.

00:22:01.400 Many bishops have failed to take action to correct and admonish clergy sexual abuse,

00:22:09.640 liturgical abuse, and abuse by heretical teaching.

00:22:13.620 These abuses threaten our children's bodies, minds, and souls,

00:22:20.440 and we the faithful cannot and must not remain silent.

00:22:26.000 For our children, for our church, and for our fidelity to Christ,

00:22:30.680 and indeed actually also for the good of the abusing clergy and the negligent bishops,

00:22:36.220 we must fight the corruption in the church,

00:22:40.060 yes, with prayer and fasting,

00:22:42.340 but also with public campaigns and actions to demand shepherds in the mold of Christ

00:22:49.180 rather than wolves in shepherds' clothing.

00:22:52.660 For LifeSite News, this is John Henry Weston,

00:22:56.740 and may God bless you.

00:23:00.600 Hello, this is John Henry Weston.

00:23:02.560 I'd like to invite you to subscribe to the John Henry Weston Show YouTube channel

00:23:06.700 if you haven't already done so.

00:23:08.760 There you will find all the past episodes and much more.

00:23:12.300 Thanks again for watching, and may God bless you.

00:23:22.660 I'll see you next time.

The John-Henry Westen Show - September 15, 2020

Abuse story of former Vatican official raises questions about Benedict's resignation

Episode Stats

Summary

Transcript