Pope Benedict asks for forgiveness but denies wrongdoing over child sex abuse cases

Pope Benedict XVI has pushed back against accusations that he knew in 1980 that a priest under his control was an abuser, while denying he had intentionally concealed his presence at a meeting about the priest that year.

Benedict, now 94, became the first Pope in centuries to resign when he stepped down in 2013. His eight-year tenure was overshadowed by a global sexual abuse scandal in the Catholic Church.

Most recently, Benedict has been under fire over his time as Archbishop of Munich and Freising, between 1977 and 1982, after a Church-commissioned report into abuse by Catholic clergy there was published last month.