Cardinal Gerhard Müller has thrown his weight behind retired Pope Benedict XVI following an explosive report that accused him of misconduct relating to four cases of sexual abuse.

Mr Müller, a prominent member of the Catholic Church in Germany, on Friday said Mr Benedict did no wrong even though he had not read the report.

“You see, I have not read it, but it is clear to me that as Archbishop Ratzinger, he did not knowingly do anything wrong,’’ Mr Müller, former bishop of Regensburg, said in an interview with the Italian newspaper Corriere Della Sera.

The allegations against Mr Benedict relate to his time as the archbishop of Munich and Freising between 1977 and 1982, when he was known as Cardinal Joseph Ratzinger.

In Mr Müller’s view, more is said about Mr Ratzinger than priests who committed crimes. Nonetheless, he said he was not surprised by this.

“In Germany, and not only there, people are interested in harming Joseph Ratzinger,’’ he told the newspaper, insinuating that he is targeted for his orthodox position on Catholic doctrine.

Referring to criticism of how sexual abuse was dealt with in the archdiocese of Munich and Freising during the retired pope’s time, Mr Müller said it was obvious that if there were mistakes, Mr Ratzinger knew nothing about it.

At that time, according to Mr Müller, there was no awareness and protocols there as they are today.

“Nobody knew what to do, how to react appropriately in the Church and in civil society,’’ the founder of the Pope Benedict XVI Institute, established in 2008, said. 

(dpa/NAN)