Pope’s brother says he slapped pupils’ faces

THE Pope’s brother admitted yesterday that he slapped pupils across the face after he took over a renowned German boys’ choir in the 1960s and was aware of allegations of physical abuse at an elementary school linked to the choir, but did nothing about it.

Rev Georg Ratzinger, 86, made the comments to a German paper following charges of sexual and physical abuse in Catholic schools in the pope’s native Bavaria.

In an interview with the Passauer Neue Presse yesterday, he said he “repeatedly administered a slap in the face” to pupils at the Regensburger Domspatzen boys choir. He says it was common then and he stopped after Germany banned corporal punishment in 1980.