Letter Shows Future Pope Stalled Pedophile Case

April 9, 2010— -- A newly discovered letter provided to the Associated Press seems to prove that the future Pope Benedict XVI resisted defrocking a California priest who had tied up and molested two young boys in the San Francisco Bay area in the 1970s.

The letter signed by then-Cardinal Joseph Ratzinger opposes the recommended defrocking, citing concerns including "the good of the universal church." It may be the strongest challenge yet to the Vatican's assertion that the pope played no role blocking the defrocking of pedophile priests during his years as head of the Catholic Church's doctrinal watchdog office.

The letter, from 1985, is typed in Latin and was discovered as part of a series between the diocese of Oakland, Calif., and the Vatican on the proposed defrocking of the accused priest, the Rev. Stephen Kiesle.

The Vatican confirmed today that it was the pope's signature on the document, but it also defended the pope.

"The then-Cardinal Ratzinger didn't cover up the case, but as the letter clearly shows, made clear the need to study the case with more attention, taking into account the good of all involved," a spokesman said.

Click here to read the correspondence between the Vatican and the Oakland diocese.

The recommendation to defrock Kiesle was made in 1981, the same year that Ratzinger took charge of the Vatican office that shares the responsibility for disciplining priests.

For four years after that recommendation was made, nothing was done while the Oakland diocese-based priest continued to do volunteer work with children in his capacity with the church.

Finally, Ratzinger wrote to Oakland Bishop John Cummins. In November 1985, the future Pope wrote that, although the reasons to remove Kiesle were of "grave significance," he added that the matter needed to be dealt with very carefully and that more time was needed before a decision was made.

In the meantime, he urged the bishop to provide counsel for the accused priest.