Worries about California priest came early in career

OAKLAND, Calif. -- Even in his seminary days in the early 1970s, there were questions about California priest Stephen Kiesle: Colleagues said he had trouble relating to adults, lacked spirituality and didn't seem committed to anything but youth ministry.

Those colleagues, who helped make the case to the Vatican in 1981 seeking to let him leave the priesthood, said they were concerned before Kiesle was ordained, and more so after revelations Kiesle had molested children in his parish.

"He was not grown up. He spent more time with kids than with people his own age. You get suspicious of that. There's something wrong there," said John Cummins, former bishop in the Diocese of Oakland, now retired.

Still, future Pope Benedict XVI resisted pleas from the diocese to act on the case, according to a 1985 letter in Latin obtained by The Associated Press that bore his signature as then-Cardinal Joseph Ratzinger.

It would take another two years before the Vatican doctrine watchdog office headed by Ratzinger would approve Kiesle's own request to leave the priesthood in 1987.

KIM JOHNSON ~ Associated Press (@Cutline - Body Copy:The signature of then-Cardinal Joseph Ratzinger, then-head of the Vatican's Congregation for the Doctrine of the Faith, is shown in close up on a 1985 letter obtains by the Associated Press. The letter is part of years of correspondence between the Vatican and the Oakland, Calif., diocese.)

Vatican attorney Jeffrey Lena said the matter proceeded "expeditiously, not by modern standards, but by those standards at the time."

Kiesle pleaded no contest in 1978 to lewd conduct for molesting two boys and was sentenced to three years probation. He took a leave of absence, and in 1981 returned and asked the Oakland bishop to be laicized, or removed from the priesthood.

California church officials wrote to Ratzinger at least three times to check on the status of Kiesle's case and Cummins discussed the case with officials during a Vatican visit, according to correspondence obtained by AP.

Only the Vatican can approve removing someone from the priesthood, whether it is requested by the priest or his superiors. At the time of Kiesle's petition, a variety of Vatican offices handled them. In 2001, Ratzinger required all cases involving abuse claims to go through his office, streamlining the process.

In the November 1985 letter, Ratzinger says the arguments for removing Kiesle were of "grave significance" but such actions required very careful review and more time. Lena, the Vatican attorney, said Ratzinger's instruction to offer Kiesle "paternal care" was a way of telling the bishop he was responsible for keeping Kiesle out of trouble. Lena said Kiesle was not accused of any child abuse in the 5 1/2 years it took for the Vatican to act on the laicization.

John S. Cummins, former bishop of the diocese of Oakland, Calif., recalls correspondence from Cardinal Joseph Ratzinger regarding troubled priest Stephen Kiesle as he looks over copies of a document brought by the Associated Press to his home in Oakland, Calif. on Friday, April 9, 2010. A letter obtained by the AP and bearing the signature of future Pope Benedict XVI shows then-Cardinal Joseph Ratzinger resisted defrocking Kiesle, who had a record of sexually molesting children, after his case had languished for four years at the Vatican. The 1985 letter was typed in Latin and is part of years of correspondence between the Diocese of Oakland and the Vatican about the proposed defrocking of Rev. Kiesle. Cummins, 82 and now retired, initially told the AP he did not recall writing to Ratzinger about Kiesle, but he remembered when shown the letter with his signature on Friday. (AP Photo/Marcio Jose Sanchez)

A Vatican spokesman, the Rev. Ciro Benedettini, said the letter showed no attempt at a cover-up.

"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," he said.

A woman who has alleged in a lawsuit that Kiesle sexually abused her as a child reacted angrily on Saturday to the Ratzinger letter. She said it seemed the Vatican was more concerned with scandal than protecting children.

The woman identified herself by her first name only, Anne, during a news conference in San Diego with her attorney. The Associated Press generally does not identify victims of alleged sexual abuse, however, Anne has chosen to speak publicly about her experience.

She pleaded to the pope: "Do the right thing, for once. Please. The whole world is watching. I'm watching. And if you want any chance at saving the Catholic Church you need to do something and you need to do it now."

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Flaccus reported from Los Angeles. Associated Press writers Eric Gorski in Denver, John Mone in San Diego, Raquel Maria Dillon in Los Angeles and Victor L. Simpson in Rome contributed to this report.