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	German Diocese Suspends Priest By Melissa Eddy The Associated Press March 15, 2010 http://www.google.com/hostednews/ap/article/ALeqM5hNOfSa1jBGKk_KjTBCQ6rTFoqJ7AD9EF6TA00 BERLIN — The pope's former diocese said Monday a priest who had been convicted of sexually abusing minors during the pontiff's tenure as archbishop has been suspended from his pastoral duties for violating a condition he not work with youth. The Archdiocese of Munich and Freising said in a statement it had removed a priest identified only as Rev. H. from his duties, after "it was proved he did not comply with the conditions set following allegations of sexually abusing minors and a conviction in the justice system." "He was forbidden from any work with children and youth," the archdiocese said, without elaborating, but added there had been no fresh complaints against the priest since his 1986 conviction. On Friday the archdiocese responded to a media report about allegations of sexual abuse of minors by Rev. H., that dated from 1985 — during Joseph Ratzinger tenure as Archbishop of Munich and Freising from 1977 to 1986. Prelate Josef Obermaier, who was responsible for assigning the pastor to his current position, serving the spiritual needs of tourists and visitors in an undisclosed location, also resigned, the archdiocese said. The moves come as Germany's church scrambles to respond to calls from dismayed parishioners to respond to the flood of allegations that priests sexually and physically abused minors in their care. Dirk Taenzler, head of the BDKJ catholic youth group, told The Associated Press on Monday that he is hoping for the pope to come forward and speak on the issue, saying the nation's Roman Catholics are appalled and worried. "Everyone is suffering from the church's bad image", Taenzler said. "It is an issue in every congregation and everyone is trying to cope." Around 300 cases of abuse have been reported across the country so far since the first German victims came forward in January. "New cases come in each day," Thomas Pfister, the special investigator for abuse allegations at the boarding school connected to the Ettal Monastery in southern Germany. The allegations in Germany came only weeks after it was revealed that sexual abuse was systematic in Ireland's Catholic church and has sparked similar allegations in the Netherlands and Austria. The pope has not yet officially commented on the issue, and according to Archbishop Rino Fisichella, the pope is expected to soon release a letter addressing the allegations in Ireland. In it, the pope will speak with a "clear and decisive voice," Fisichella said. Fisichella told Italy's Corriere della Sera in an interview published on Monday that the zero-tolerance policy that Benedict wants to implement is a "moral obligation."
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