German abuse scandal the most damaging to Vatican

THE Catholic Church paedophile scandal is moving like a contagion from one country to another, but the implications of the German complaints are potentially more damaging to the Vatican than any others.

Apart from the horror of the abuse for the victims, Germany is one of the biggest funders of the Vatican. This is an important factor for an institution regularly on the verge of bankruptcy.

It is also the home country of Pope Benedict XVI and is more likely to drag him into the middle of the scandal than any other country. This is despite the fact that the former Cardinal Ratzinger was the first high-ranking prince of the Church to get to grips with the problem and institute a zero-tolerance attitude.