Lawsuit filed in German diocese…
Benedict XVI implicated as former Vatican Official accused of committing Sexual Abuse in Secretariat of State
The fact that “Pope” Francis warned against the sin of gossip in his Angelus address for the umpteenth time today may be no accident: A new sex abuse scandal is rocking the Vatican II Sect, and this time it’s about criminal behavior allegedly committed inside Vatican City, between adults (but not consensual), by an official working for the Secretariat of State in close contact with “Pope” Benedict XVI. Complaints to superiors reportedly fell on deaf ears, and Benedict XVI himself is accused of simply transferring the alleged offender elsewhere, eventually.
Yesterday, Sep. 5, 2020, Life Site published an explosive article with substantial details:
Right from the outset it must be stated clearly: The accused, a certain Mgr. Christoph Kühn, vehemently denies the allegations, calling them calumnious. At the same time, the allegations are credible, according to Life Site.
The report contains so much detailed information that we urge people to read it in full in order to get the complete picture. Beyond Kuhn himself, the allegations also implicate high-profile individuals, albeit to different degrees, including: “Pope” Benedict XVI, “Pope Saint” John Paul II, and “Cardinal” Pietro Parolin. “Abp.” Carlo Maria Viganò appears in the story as a whistle-blower.
For copyright reasons, we can only quote a few brief portions of the article:
Monsignor Florian Kolfhaus and a second man – a former priest – both allege that [Monsignor Christoph] Kühn violently compelled them into sexual masochistic acts.
Kolfhaus first lodged a complaint against Kühn at the Vatican in 2006. He testifies that his abuse took place inside the offices of the Secretariat of State, as well as inside the Casa Santa Marta, a residence for Vatican prelates.
But it appears no formal investigation was launched until 2019, in spite of the fact that the Report of Archbishop Carlo Maria Viganò, Delegate for the Pontifical Representations, was presented to the Superiors of the Secretariat of State on July 3, 2006.
The other priest has since become laicized and is now a practicing homosexual and LGBT activist. He has given his testimony for the Kolfhaus complaint that is currently underway in Germany. In the court files is also to be found a WhatsApp message (seen by LifeSite) from Kühn to him (from April 2017), in which the Monsignor offers some future financial support should the laicized priest help him to clear his name with regard to the allegations against him.
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Kühn was the head of the German Section of the Secretariat of State in the Vatican from 2001 till 2008. This position put him in charge of vetting priests and bishops from Germany for elevations, and as such he was privy to all the personnel records of these prelates. Being in such a high position and involved in the German church, Kühn was often in close contact with Pope Benedict XVI both after his 2005 election and prior to that in his role as head of the Congregation for the Doctrine of Faith [1982-2005].
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Kolfhaus says he suffered sexual abuse at the hands of Kühn from the end of 2003 until 2004 and has been reporting the abuse to different superiors in the Vatican and elsewhere since 2006. Through his lawyer, Dr. Alexander Stevens, Kolfhaus told LifeSite that he did not begin the legal process or go to the press with the abuse he suffered. Only after details of the abuse were reported by the German newspaper Die Bild in 2019, and police questioned Kolfhaus, did he act.
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Two sources close to Pope Benedict spoke anonymously to LifeSite about this matter, suggesting that Kühn was moved to Vienna because his scandalous sexual behavior (some believed to be consensual) became too well known. One said that the Pope moved Kühn knowing of the problems and even asked Cardinal Joachim Meisner, Archbishop of Cologne, to take Kühn into his diocese but Meisner refused. Another source stated: “When it became known that he [Kühn] had harassed various young men (among them also Kolfhaus), he was removed by Benedict XVI from the Vatican and sent to Vienna.” This source insisted, defending the Pope, that Benedict did personally intervene and that he punished Kühn two times by sending him into less important positions, first to Vienna (2008) and then to Eichstätt (2012), this time removing him from the diplomatic service.
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Another source from Benedict’s circle however suggests that Benedict did not know of the matter and it was handled either by the then Secretary of State himself (now-Cardinal Tarcisio Bertone) or the then-Substitute (now-Cardinal Fernando Filoni).
(John-Henry Westen, “Homosexual abuse scandal and cover-up during Benedict’s pontificate shakes Vatican”, Life Site, Sep. 5, 2020)
Again, many more details and background information can be found in the full Life Site article.
What doesn’t help things is the fact that John Paul II made Kühn a “Chaplain of His Holiness” in 1999, and Benedict XVI made him into a “Prelate of Honor of His Holiness” in 2011. When Kuhn returned to his home diocese of Eichstätt in 2012, his “bishop”, Mr. Gregor Hanke, O.S.B., appointed him canon of the cathedral. That’s not exactly a punishment, either.
Kolfhaus is suing Kühn in the latter’s home diocese. The first hearing there is scheduled for tomorrow, Sep. 7.
The German tabloid Bild broke parts of this story in July of this year. At the time, Marco Tosatti published an English translation of the Bild article:
Kühn decided to respond to the Bild article, and Tosatti published that reply in English as well:
Depending on what other details emerge, and whether the prosecution can prove its case beyond a reasonable doubt, this story has the potential to shake the Vatican like never before.
Will Benedict XVI weigh in?
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